Field Observation & Documentation Form

Why a guideline?

Each photograph in Hidden World is more than an image. It is a record of a natural subject, its environment, and the way it responds to ultraviolet light. To keep those records consistent all around the world, for every photographer who captures the hidden world, every observation is documented with the same form.

Fill in one form per observation, on site, while the subject and the conditions are still in front of you. The Image ID links the form to the photo files, so any picture can later be traced back to where, when and how it was made.

Every subject is photographed in its natural habitat. The form simply records what was observed in the field.

What the form records

1. 1

   Observation information

   Who, when and where: location, elevation, weather, temperature, moonlight and light pollution, and the subject group.

2. 2

   Subject information

   Common and scientific name, plus number, life stage and behavior for animals, or visible features in normal light for plants, lichens and fungi.

3. 3

   Optical observation

   The light source used and how the subject responded: fluorescence, phosphorescence, afterglow, reflection or no response, with the colors observed.

4. 4

   Photographic record

   Camera, lens, filters and the exposure settings for both the visible-light and the non-visible light photograph.

5. +

   Field notes & observations

   Anything else worth remembering about the scene or the subject.