Photography is a powerful and affordable way to document all kinds of environmental issues. We'll be collecting different techniques and tips here -- stay tuned and pitch in where you can! We'll be starting with a focus on #timelapse photography:

#### What environmental problems might this apply to

Timelapse photography, or photographic monitoring is a good way to document the changes in a landscape over time, or an incident you need images of when you might not be there to capture them in person such as: 

- [sediment runoff](https://publiclab.org/notes/mlamadrid/06-22-2016/documenting-runoff-with-photography) in a stream from a disturbed site
- the changes in [opacity](https://publiclab.org/wiki/visual-pm) of a smoke stack  
- an explosion at a mining site 

#### What limitations does the method have

- To set up the camera, you will need access to a secure location  where your site of interest can be seen.
- Depending on how often you have the camera set to take photos, you could end up with a lot of images to go through. 
- There have been documented challenges in capturing images with glare (from the sun, snow and water) (see [Frequently Asked Questions](https://publiclab.org/wiki/photo-monitoring#Frequently+Asked+Questions))

#### Where do conversations about this method happen

* Discussions around photographic monitoring are happening on the Midwest group through a few on-going projects, as well as on publiclab.org through this page _(see the [Actives](https://publiclab.org/wiki/photo-monitoring#Timelapse+Activities), [Frequently Asked Questions](https://publiclab.org/wiki/photo-monitoring#Frequently+Asked+Questions),  and Updates sections below)_ 

<b>Midwest group: <a href="https://groups.google.com/d/forum/publiclab-midwest">publiclab-midwest</a></b>
<form class="form" action="https://groups.google.com/group/publiclab-midwest/boxsubscribe"><div class="form-inline"><input class="input-medium form-control" type="text" name="email" placeholder="you@email.com" /> <input class="btn" type=submit name="sub" value="Subscribe" /></div></form>

#### About the data

**Type of data**
This method produces data in the form of images. Most cameras are also able to timestamp images. 

_Addons:_

- Some cameras also have the ability to capture GPS data. 
- This monitoring method can be paired with weather monitoring stations for a richer data set.
- Sending images to the internet has been another add-on for these type of projects. 

**Uses for the data**

- Government agencies often find photographic data useful evidence. [Read more about this here.](https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/11-22-2016/interview-chris-nidel-on-environmental-evidence-in-court#Photographic+evidence). 
- Photographs of events or land change are useful tools in persuasion for publications, or in public comment. [Read more about this here](https://publiclab.org/notes/mlamadrid/06-22-2016/using-photographs-in-fighting-mining-companies).


#### How to get a timelapse camera 
Timelapse cameras can be found at sporting goods stores and online. They are also called "trail cameras" or "game cameras." Public Lab has a few time lapse cameras that can be loaned out for projects. Interested in starting a timelapse monitoring project? [Post a note ](https://publiclab.org/post)about what you're interested in doing with the tag **timelapse** so we can learn about it! 


### Timelapse Activities 

Timelapse photography is a way to automatically trigger a camera on an interval -- for example, every minute, or every hour. 

[activities:timelapse]

### Frequently Asked Questions

We're collecting and working our way through a wide array of questions about timelapse photography -- if you can contribute your own questions, or answer others', please do!

<a class="btn btn-primary" href="/post?tags=timelapse,question:timelapse&template=question">Ask a question about timelapse photography</a>

[notes:question:timelapse]


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### Frac sand photographic monitoring

There's some good resources [posted on this page](https://publiclab.org/wiki/frac-sand-action-oriented-resources#Photographic+Monitoring) which are specific to water monitoring or monitoring of frac sand sites -- check it out, and we're working to open some of these ideas up into questions and activities soon. 


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### Updates



[notes:photo-monitoring]