Photo Monitoring
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:
Why
Timelapse is a visual form that:
- is relatively cheap to collect
- produces easier-to-read data: photos
- can give good visual context to a problem, compared to (or paired with) sensor data
- situates the data in a timeline
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 in a stream from a disturbed site
- the changes in opacity 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)
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 Activities, Frequently Asked Questions, and Updates sections below)
Midwest group: publiclab-midwest
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 about what you're interested in doing with the tag timelapse so we can learn about it!
Related techniques
Timelapse photography may also make use of a number of other techniques, such as:
Updates
Timelapse Activities
Timelapse photography is a way to automatically trigger a camera on an interval -- for example, every minute, or every hour.
Here are some posted activities related to timelapse; we're still seeking a clear guide to setting up and using a #trail-cam to do timelapses, so please reach out if you're able to help document this!
Activities should include a materials list, costs and a step-by-step guide to construction with photos. Learn what makes a good activity here.
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!
Ask a question about timelapse photography
Frac sand photographic monitoring
There's some good resources posted on this page 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.
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.
- Photographs of events or land change are useful tools in persuasion for publications, or in public comment. Read more about this here.