As promised in my last post, Photowalking Hollin Hills, here are step-by-step instructions describing the workflow for creating a KMZ file that features a GPS track and gallery of geotagged photos, suitable for display in Google Earth.

1. Save- and export a track (GPX file) from a GPS device, such as MotionX GPS for Apple iPhone.
2. Create a gallery of geotagged photos using Picasa for Windows.
3. From the menu bar in Picasa, select Tools/Geotag/Export to Google Earth File; save the resulting KMZ file to a known location. (Editor's Note: This option is not available in Picasa 3.8.7.361 for Mac OS X.)
4. Open the KMZ file of geotagged photos in Google Earth.
5. Open the GPX file (GPS track) in Google Earth; drag the GPX file into the KMZ folder of geotagged photos.
6. Select the KMZ folder (containing both the GPX track and geotagged photos). From the menu bar in Google Earth, select Save/Save Place As...; create a name for the new KMZ file and save to a known location.

A sample KMZ file (Picasa_23Feb2011.kmz) is shown above.

I went for a short photowalk in the communities of Hollin Hills, Milway Meadows, and Mount Vernon Square in order to field test the latest update of the MotionX GPS app for Apple iPhone. I hoped to be able to record a GPS track with embedded geotagged photos, suitable for display using Google Earth. Well, two out of three ain't bad, right? As it turns out, I was able to use Google Earth to combine the GPX track exported from MotionX GPS with a Picasa Web Album of the photos taken by MotionX GPS's in-app camera. You can see the result by clicking on the following file: Picasa_23Feb2011.kmz. (Editor's Note: Google Earth must be installed on your computer.) Details in a follow-up post regarding how I did it. By the way, Photo 6 of 6 shows holes drilled by sapsuckers in the trunk of a Blue Atlas Cedar.

“Hollin Hills is a development in Fairfax County, Virginia, about 10 miles outside of Washington, D.C. It has about 450 houses. It was designed by Charles Goodman and developed by Robert Davenport.” (Credit: Hollin Hills website.) The photo was geotagged automatically — incorrectly, as it turns out — by my Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 digital camera. I used Picasa to correct the geolocation of the photo manually.