Environmental Measurements: Digital Photographs

Why Photography?

Pictures are a critical part of the documentation of any study. Not only do they show your study site and its details, but good photographs educate other people about what you've done.

Increasingly, photographs are being used as a way to give something back to the community in which a study has taken place.

Digital photography is very cost effective. In addition, you can use software to enhance photographs in useful ways. For example, a set of overlapping photo can be stitched into a large panorama.

It is essential that you develop some basic skills in using modern cameras and software.

Inventory

You will need a detailed inventory. The items below comprise the basic set of tools. In more complex situations, you will need additional items (such as those listed under Advanced Tools). It is good to record the manufacturer, model number and serial number of each item. When possible, an identifying tag should be on each item (especially when there are multiple sets in use).

Basic Tools

Digital camera (DSLR)
Battery
Battery charger
Digital camera media
GPS (with a USB connection cable)
Simple Computer (such as a Netbook with Basic Software -- see right panel; power cord, interface slot for digital camera media or a USB adapter)
2 large external hard drives (with power cord and USB connection cable)
Power strip (with adapter plug, if necessary)

Advanced Tools

Tripod & head
Cable release
Macro lens
Advanced Software

Workflow

Arrival at the Base Station

Unpack the photo gear, checking each item against an inventory list.
Store packing materials for later use.
Check synchronization (date, time) between a GPS and the camera.
Establish a Safe Store (large hard drive) in a very secure location and a Back-up Store in a different location.
Create a location for charging all the batteries.

Daily - Before Departure

Confirm that the camera batteries are charged (and an extra battery is being carried).
Confirm that the digital camera media are empty (and extra media are being carried).
Check that the camera is clean and is being carried with appropriate protection.
Turn on the GPS. Make sure that there is sufficient battery charge, theat it has a fix and is set to record a track. Confirm that there is an extra set of batteries.

Daily - During Fieldwork

Take lots of photos. If there is a team, one person might be assigned with this as a primary responsibility.

Photograph key reference locations (e.g., how to get to a site), people who are involved (both the research team and people who are at the study site), and the subjects of study (people, plants, locations).

Look for close-up details. Be sure to get photos for panoramas to show the context of the study.

Daily - After Returning

Start charging all camera batteries.
Clean the camera gear and USB and store it safely.
Establish a Safe Store folder in which the day's photos will be processed (example name: date/general location).
Transfer all images from the digital camera medium to the backup medium (see right panel for details; this is called the Safe Store).
Transfer the GPS track to the day's photo file on the backup medium (GPS Trackmaker).
Establish a working folder and a keeper folder on the computer and use the Picasa procedures to select, improve and save images. The result will be a set of "polished" images in the keeper folder (see the right panel)
Further enhance all the photos in the keeper folder.
- Geotag all of the photos (GeoSetter).
- Rename all of the photos (Rename)(pattern: name_number).
- Add identification information to each photo's metadata (ExifToolGUI).
Make a copy of the keeper folder inside the day's folder on the Safe Store disk.
Copy the Safe Store additions to the Backup Store and return these two external disk drives to their secure locations.
Delete the working folder.
You may want to move the keeper folder contents (or part of it) to the Picasa on-line library so that you can share images with the outside world.

On Leaving the Base Station

Clean all gear.
Pack the photo gear and check this against the inventory sheet.
Make note of any gear which has been lost or damaged so that these items will be replaced or repaired immediately on return to the home base.

Software

Open source software (or shareware) is used when possible.

Basic Software

Rename: File renamer (note: no installation necessary)
GPS Trackmaker: Download track and waypoint data from a Garmin GPS.
GeoSetter: Geotag photos by combining a GPS track with a folder of photos
Picasa: Simple photo editing and file sharing (local and cloud integration)

Advanced Editing

GIMP: Photo editing (open source, much like Photoshop)
Hugin/AutoPano Pro: Stitch photos into panoramas (PTGui?)

Metadata (EXIF/IPTC) Editing (WARNING: being tested)

The EXIF and IPTC metadata information describes characteristics of each image, such as the photographer, camera model, exposure conditions, location, GPS coordinates, and much more. The way this information is stored is only partially standardized. Various editing programs (such as Picasa) handle these data in ways that appear to be changing.

Picasa: It has been known to corrupt meta data. Use with caution.
ExifTool and ExifToolGUI: This pair of programs probably work best, but they are not quite as easily installed as a single program. Note: Check out ExifToolGUI first.
PhotoME: A respected metadata editor but not easy to use to add metadata).

Picasa

Picasa is free software from Google. You'll see Picasa in four contexts.

File viewer on your laptop.
File organizer and editor on your laptop.
File sharer as a web service.
File or slideshow viewer on a Google Site page.

Requirements

Digital camera medium: used in the camera for storage and for transfer to a computer.
Picasa: desktop/laptop version (it should be set as your default image viewer).
Picasa account. This is the same as your Google Account.
Backup disk: a hard drive that is designated as a "photo tank" This is an emergency backup of all photos. It is rarely used as input and always stored in a safe place, generally with a mirror stored elsewhere. Think of it as a huge, external hard drive.

Workflow

Note: There are other parts of the workflow regarding photography (see the left panel). This section is focused on the movement of existing -- recently taken -- photos from the digital camera medium (e.g., SD card) to the sharing of the best images in a Google site.

Create a Safe Store: Copy all images from the digital camera medium (e.g., SD card) to the backup disk.

Decide the Purpose: Make a clear and explicit decision on the reason (or reasons) you want a set of good images from the set you are processing.

Establish folders for the images: You will need a working folder and a keeper folder on your PC hard drive. These should be in an appropriate location with an appropriate name.

Transfer to a PC: Move the good images from the digital camera medium to the working folder. By moving the files, you will be cleaning off all images from the digital camera medium and it will be ready for use in another photo session.

Do a Selective Delete: Work through the images in the working folder by deleting the images that are defective (e.g., out of focus), duplicates, or which are not particularly interesting or appropriate for the purpose of your project. When you are done working through all the images, you will have a set of good images that you will improve.

Quick Scan: Open the working folder and double click on the first one. The Picasa viewer will open. Use this viewer to go through all of your good images. Note that you can zoom in (e.g., the + key or 1:1) to see details.

Improve Each Image with PC Picasa: Start the desktop (or laptop) version of Picasa. It will find all new images on the hard drive and will bring them into its library storage system. (If this does not happen, Click on the File menu and choose Add Folder to Picasa ...). Go to the section of the library that displays thumbnails of your good images.

Select & Edit: Double Click on an image in the Library which you want to improve. As you edit, click on Apply as is appropriate to save your editing choices as you make changes.
Crop: On the Basic Fixes tab, use the Crop function to cut out the area of your image that is important. Note the choices for aspect ratios.
Levels: Go to the Tuning menu. The Highlights and Shadows sliders trim the luminance histogram. Look at the lightest area when you move the Highlights slider to make sure that you are not "blowing out" the light areas. Do the same for the shadows.
Sharpen: Use the Effects tab and choose Sharpen (upper left corner). The default may be OK. Click the 1:1 button (lower right corner) to check. If you need more sharpening, move the slider. This is a slow process in Picasa, so be patient!
Save: Right click on the image and choose Save.
Library: Click on the Back to Library button to get the next image to be edited.

Resize and Export: Select all of the files you want to export. Note that you will be making a copy of your files (think about the implications). The size of the exported files is selected in the popup menu. The maximum size (of the largest dimension) is 1600 pixels. That's a good choice. Choose your keeper file as the destination folder.

Upload to Picasa (on-line): Find your keeper file while looking at the Picasa Library. Select all of the images. Use the Upload button at the bottom of the page to move the images to your on-line storage.

Note that there are other things to do to these images before you are done. See the left panel.

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