exif GPS Data GPSLongitudeRef/GPSLatitudeRef

[Julio.Bouza]

I am in the process of migrating off the Mac Photo application to Lightroom Classic [yes i know I can use the migration option to Lightroom CC but my library is significant and I don't feel comfortable doing a full migration and instead doing manual migration at the Album level.

Anyways, when the Mac Photo Application exports the XMP it does an export IPTC as XMP and the GPS data is exported split into the followint tags:

GPSLongitudeRef

GPSLongitude

GPSLatitude

GPSLatitudeRef

When Lightroom Classic does the read, it doesn't recognize the GPSLongitudeRef and GPSLatitudeRef for N and W and just imports the GPSLongitude and GPSLatitude causing the photo to show in the middle of nowhere instead of where it should.  Any ideas how to remediate this so that it imports the N and W properly?

Thank you

[johnrellis]

Attach an example photo exported from Photos to your post (and if it's a raw photo, attach the .xmp sidecar as well).  I'll see what's going wrong and recommend a fix.

To attach a file, at the bottom of your post click More and then Edit Message. You'll see the attach-file box at the bottom of the edit window.

[Julio.Bouza]

My apologies in the delay in response, but I have been traveling and it has been a mess lol.

When i pull the .xmp that the Mac Photos apps generates, the exif tags are the following [this is an example and not of the same photo of course but the export is all the same/consistent]:

<exif:GPSLongitudeRef>W</exif:GPSLongitudeRef>
<exif:GPSLongitude>81.468815803527832</exif:GPSLongitude>
<exif:GPSTimeStamp>2019-09-19T11:16:31Z</exif:GPSTimeStamp>
<exif:GPSLatitude>28.424240817450983</exif:GPSLatitude>
<exif:GPSLatitudeRef>N</exif:GPSLatitudeRef>

When I pull the .xmp that Lightroom Classic generates is as follows:

exif:GPSLatitude="40,30.2139543954N"
exif:GPSLongitude="3,39.8188251572W"

Notice that the N and W are part of the GPSLatitude/GPSLongitude respectively.  

When Lightroom Classic does the import of photos and .xmp that the Mac Photos App generates, when it does the import it does not seem to read the GPSLongitudeRef/GPSLatitudeRef respectively which is there the N/W comes in.  It imports only the GPSLongitude/GPSLatitude tags not translating the GPSLongitudeRef/GPSLatitudeRef respectively causing it to import the values without the N/W on the GPS side placing the pictures in the middle of nowhere.

I have no idea what the exif standard is but I find it strange that with Apple giving up on Aperture users like they have and Adobe having some sort of import mechanism from the Mac Photos applications into Lightroom CC [which I am not really using since is very limited for those that are used to Aperture], that Lightroom Classic would be able to be compatible on how the Mac Photos application exports the .xmp which is really a converstion/export from IPTC as XMP.  

[johnrellis · Accepted solution]

The XMP fragments you posted don't conform with the XMP specification, while the LR fragments do.  In particular, while the EXIF standard has separate fields for GPSLongitudeRef and GPSLatitudeRef, the XMP standard does not -- the N/S/W/E are appended to the end of GPSLongitude and GPSLatitude fields.  So it's not surprising that LR doesn't read those coordinates.  

I think there's a workaround for correcting the metadata.  If you upload one of photos and its .xmp sidecar to Dropbox or similar and post the sharing link here, I can likely provide a detailed recipe.

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