'Date photo taken' Required field in the Gallery?

[Ultrasonic]

I've just been browsing the last week of photos in the gallery and thought that it would be useful to know when the photos were taken.

There was a beautiful shot of a Red Admiral taken on 2/2/07 , a clear record of early emergence from hibernation, but there were many other shots that surely were not recently taken - e.g.of caterpillars and beetles.

I am not suggesting that only recently taken photos should be posted, just that they are identified, by date taken.

Is there a way this can be done by the administrator, or can it be made a compulsory field on upload? Or is it not seen as important?

[wildlifesnapper]

Hi

the date isn't something I record on my photos so I couldn't put it in a field.I can put summer winter etc but anyone can guess that.
I do record local sightings for the natural history society in a diary so they are dated , but not photos as a lot are not taken in their recording area.

So a compusory date field would mean me uploaded no more photos.

Neil

[Oy]

If you install Opanda iEXIF2 you can get info such as this by right-clicking the image.

This image... http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...age-26822.html

Comes up as:

Date Time Original = 2007-02-02 14:16:35

[eeyore]

personally i cant see the need for it to be compusory - if the photographer feels it is important they can put it in either the wildlife info or the photography info - and as oy notes you can also get it from the exif data if you really want to know.

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Oy

If you install Opanda iEXIF2 you can get info such as this by right-clicking the image.

This image... http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...age-26822.html

Comes up as:

Date Time Original = 2007-02-02 14:16:35

Proves I wasn't telling porkies with that shot!
Thanks for that link Oy, I've just installed it! That'll save me a load of time when I've forgotten to put the shooting info on.

[Ultrasonic]

Oy

Thanks very much for the link -

I only wanted to know how crazy the World really was becoming with early-show insects etc, ...no wish to restrict anyone else's fun....

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Ultrasonic

Oy

Thanks very much for the link -

I only wanted to know how crazy the World really was becoming with early-show insects etc, ...no wish to restrict anyone else's fun....

I think most people would put the date if something was exceptionally early, as I did with that Butterfly.

[Paul mabbott]

It is, as you say, extremely useful/important to know when photos were taken. However, for digital pictures, isn't that information available from the EXIF data? I do tend to put rough dates (e.g. August NNNN but not consistently because I have assumed the data from photo files was carried over to the gallery.

Originally Posted by Ultrasonic

I've just been browsing the last week of photos in the gallery and thought that it would be useful to know when the photos were taken.

There was a beautiful shot of a Red Admiral taken on 2/2/07 , a clear record of early emergence from hibernation, but there were many other shots that surely were not recently taken - e.g.of caterpillars and beetles.

I am not suggesting that only recently taken photos should be posted, just that they are identified, by date taken.

Is there a way this can be done by the administrator, or can it be made a compulsory field on upload? Or is it not seen as important?

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

It is, as you say, extremely useful/important to know when photos were taken. However, for digital pictures, isn't that information available from the EXIF data? I do tend to put rough dates (e.g. August NNNN but not consistently because I have assumed the data from photo files was carried over to the gallery.

Not all software carries the exif info over. Picasa 2 doesn't, at least not with mine anyway.

[cherrybee]

I just installed that program to very good I might just learn something

[FungiJohn]

EXIF (Exchangeable Image file Format) is a standard created by Japanese Electronic Industry Development Association (JEIDA) for the storage of camera and image information for JPEG and TIFF image files.

Most digital cameras use Exif file format to store images.

If anyone is interested in the file structure, information can be found at:
Exif file format

But this is advanced stuff (and I mean advanced!) so be warned

John

[Paul mabbott]

In fact, you don't even need any specialised programmes. Assuming you have Windows, just right click on the picture and then left click on properties .....

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Not all software carries the exif info over. Picasa 2 doesn't, at least not with mine anyway.

Whoops!

[Oy]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

In fact, you don't even need any specialised programmes. Assuming you have Windows, just right click on the picture and then left click on properties .....

That requires youy to save the photo to your computer first. The software I recommended above works via the web browser - much easier!

[MTR]

Oy

Thanks for the info.
I have been searching for something along these lines for a long time.
I have been using a rubbish programme called Exifread 1.10 by Tawbaware software
It should have been called "Tupperware".

Thanks Oy for this little prog, looks good so far

MTR

[Gill Catton]

I think it's very useful to put the date particularly with regard to insects and plants. Some species are only very visible for a couple of months in the year (or less) and providing the date of shot may help someone trying to find the animal or plant or in id-ing what they have already taken a picture of. Some plants look very similar but the month of flowering can relatively cleanly separate them so the date can be sooo helpful in ID. I can see it's of less value with regard to birds or mammals just being an interesting note perhaps in those cases

[speckled wood]

It does tie in with another issue in that people take lots of very good photogaphs, but no so many keep notes about what they see and in the end it is this information that is more valuable to the local records centres and for other people and the serious professional and amateur researchers needing information.

SW

[carlos_dfc]

On the subject of EXIF info - yu also need to bear in mind that sometimes the date/time could be wrong.
A couple of times I've picked up a camera, realised the batts were dead, put some more in it, then skipped the time/date settings because I wanted to use it quickly.

[speckled wood]

Originally Posted by wildlifesnapper

Hi

the date isn't something I record on my photos so I couldn't put it in a field.I can put summer winter etc but anyone can guess that.
I do record local sightings for the natural history society in a diary so they are dated , but not photos as a lot are not taken in their recording area.

So a compusory date field would mean me uploaded no more photos.

Neil

The real problem is that without full and accurate data the no matter how good the photograph is, it is little more than decoration. 25 years ago following writing to R L H Dennis regarding the possible existence of unknown colonies of the Silver-studded Blue Butterfly in Cheshire and Lancashire I had need to access a number of butterfly collections as it was the information I obtained was almost useless as inadequate information was shown on the specimen labels had each collector put details of the exact location that the specimen had come from I might well have had more success in finding "lost" colonies (that I still feel sure might still exist).

SW

[wildlifesnapper]

Originally Posted by speckled wood

The real problem is that without full and accurate data the no matter how good the photograph is, it is little more than decoration. 25 years ago following writing to R L H Dennis regarding the possible existence of unknown colonies of the Silver-studded Blue Butterfly in Cheshire and Lancashire I had need to access a number of butterfly collections as it was the information I obtained was almost useless as inadequate information was shown on the specimen labels had each collector put details of the exact location that the specimen had come from I might well have had more success in finding "lost" colonies (that I still feel sure might still exist).

SW

Hi SW

I do a lot of recording for the local natural history society.When I am in our recording area I note down everything I see and can I.D from the books I carry or later from photos.For this purpose I have a large diary in which I write all sightings and these are then passed on to the society at the next meeting.So any photo I take in this area the date is in the diary.I actually do more recording than photographing when I'm out locally.It's when I'm further afield that I consentrate more on photography than recording.When I've driven some distance I want some saleable pictures to try to recoup the cost(but this doesn't stop me observing and taking less detailed notes).
With regard to my photos, I record where the photo was taken on my computer as this is more important to me.If someone like yourself came along and wanted to find something I had photographed then I would be able to give you a six figure grid ref. and you would be able to go along to the exact spot.
What I don't record on my computer is the date a photo was taken as I don't think it nessesary.If it was photographed locally it will be in my diary.The dates(I have just remembered) are also recorded on the RAW files but these are on CD/DVD so not at my fingertips.
So what I am really saying is that if it became a compulsory field to put the date I wouldn't want to trawl through my RAW files to find the date of every photo I put on the site which includes photos from two years ago.If,on the other hand someone asked me for the date of a specific photo then I wouldn't mind doing that.

Just thought I'd clarify things as it may have sounded that I didn't give a monkey's about anything but the photography.I was into wildlife long before photography .

Neil

[speckled wood]

Originally Posted by wildlifesnapper

Hi

I do record local sightings for the natural history society in a diary so they are dated , but not photos as a lot are not taken in their recording area.

Neil

No I wasn't getting at you as you had explained yourself here. it was more aimed at those who don't keep diaries or forward records. Quite often the problem is that people just don't realise how important this information is, one sure may of giving yourself a little "immortality" is to send these record in as it is likely that they will still be consulted by some researcher one hundred years hence.

One issue in digital photography is that unlike slides and prints there is nowhere to physically write on the photo itself unless you print it out.

SW

[wildlifesnapper]

Originally Posted by speckled wood

No I wasn't getting at you as you had explained yourself here. it was more aimed at those who don't keep diaries or forward records. Quite often the problem is that people just don't realise how important this information is, one sure may of giving yourself a little "immortality" is to send these record in as it is likely that they will still be consulted by some researcher one hundred years hence.

One issue in digital photography is that unlike slides and prints there is nowhere to physically write on the photo itself unless you print it out.

SW

OK, I'll let you off then

I agree , all those records soon become thousands of records and a huge mountain of info.

Yeah it was easyer when I could write everything on a slide mount.

Neil