Snapshot Serengeti Talk

Counting eyes at night?

  • LucyitSwD by LucyitSwD

    If I have a night shot and I see four widely spaced dots of light (eye reflections) moving, and one of them is close enough to tell that it is a zebra, should I just count 4 zebras?

    Posted

  • kosmala by kosmala scientist

    Yes, please do. Since we're asking you to make your best guess, and you can tell that there are four animals there, you're best guess is that they are four zebras.

    Posted

  • wa2guf by wa2guf

    I found several captures which only showed moving eye reflections, however, when I took a screen shot of the images and stretched the levels in Photoshop, I could clearly see the animal present. In one case it was Thompson's Gazelle, and in another case it was a deer.

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  • wa2guf by wa2guf

    What do we do when there are more than one species present? I had one picture with 5 wildibeest in it and one zebra. The machinery only lets you pick one critter.

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  • biminibob by biminibob

    No, after you have picked one animal type, you can then pick another.

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  • wa2guf by wa2guf

    Also, how do you exit the program when you have to quit? It is hard enough to leave looking at all the neat candid camera images, but I don't see how you get out of a session.

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  • sheilasmail by sheilasmail

    @wa2guf - you take this to a whole new level of analysis! There should be a "super user" group for peeps like you.

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  • phidauex by phidauex

    I was just thinking about Wa2guf's method of stretching the levels - I do this a lot when trying to identify things or people in my own photographs (lots of nighttime photography). It is surprising how much information may be in those low-blacks that can still be useful. Maybe a "ultra-contrast" toggle for night-time shots would be helpful?

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  • katherineslive.co.uk by katherineslive.co.uk

    Yeah, on my mac I often zoom in the whole screen (two finger stretch over mouse), and def get a lot more details in each pic

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  • mascan by mascan

    I wish one could select "eyes at night" so someone else could later lighten that photograph for identification.

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  • tvoller by tvoller

    Agree with the posts above! That one white spot became an eye on what I believe to be a dik-dik.

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  • hdevos by hdevos

    Could there be a "cannot identify" button? I hate to choose "nothing present" when there is (eyes shining at night), but I can't identify it.

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  • aliburchard by aliburchard scientist, translator

    Hey guys - I know it can be frustrating to feel forced to make a decision when you don't know what the animal is, but try to give it your best guess. Because your answers are combined with many other answers, we can use the disagreement in the answers to identify which photos might just be impossible to ID. or which photos need a second look.

    Posted

  • vjb by vjb

    @hdevos Please don't choose "nothing present" when there is something there. Sometimes I choose Wildebeest because they seem to be everywhere or I choose something that I wish it would be--Leopard or such. When the database sees 5 completely different answers I'm sure it will be flagged entirely differently than 5 nothing theres or 4 zebras and a 1 reptile. Take a guess! Sometimes, if it is the right colour, I choose lion rather than gazelle (when there is nothing else to go on)--it gives Ali more to look at 😉

    Posted

  • Heronimus by Heronimus

    The method of taking a snapshot or copying the picture to a photo editing softwar actually really helps a lot when trying to identify animals at night (or day, far in the distance). By zooming in you can get a general idea of size/body type etc. This way your guesses will be a lot more easy (at least for me)

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