It does not matter what type of camera you have, there are some key ways to improve your photos for better identification.
Size - Including something for the viewer to judge size is important. A ruler is ideal but you can include other items in your photo for comparison. If you do not have a ruler, your hand, coin or end of a pencil will work as well.
Clarity - It is never fun when you leave the shore and go back to look at your photos only to find them blurry. Make sure to take a few photos. If you are using your phone, tap the screen to focus on the animal you are taking a photo of. The photo below of a common shore crab, is in focus, the only animal within the photo, but is missing a scale to judge the size of the animal.
Single animal in photo - identifying animals is easier when the photo is focused only on one animal.
- Try to take the photograph of the animals in their natural habitat, as that provides clues about where they live which is helpful when identifying them. In some situations, it may be better to place the animals on a different background (e.g. hand) to photograph them.
- Do not remove animals that are stuck (chitons, limpets, really strong snails!)
- Get close and focus your camera on the animal you are interested in. Point to the individual animal if you cannot have one animal in the photo which also acts as a judge for the size of the animal.
Different Angles - Make sure to take a few photos with different angles of your animal, especially snails! Having a photo of the top, bottom, and side will help with more detailed identification. The two photos below are a good start, but for snails making sure you take photos of the spiral (spire) of the shell help in animal identification.
Describe the location - Last, but certainly not least, where did you take your photo? The marine species you will be looking at while doing a Marine Metre Squared program live in habitats, certain locations around the shore. Knowing the location of where you found a marine animal can help in the identification process.
- Is the shoreline a sheltered bay or an exposed outer beach?
- Was the substrate hard (rocky reef, boulders or cobble) or soft (sand or mud)?
- Was the animal sheltering under rock, or sitting on the top of a rock?
- What was the tidal level (low, mid or high tide) and distance from waters edge?
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