j_evander

I've photographed at that elephant seal site (only from the cliff, not on the beach), and I have to admit that my first thought in reading your post was relief that someone is actually out there keeping a watch on potential harassment of the seals. When I was there, I had to stop a couple people from throwing stones at a sleeping seal--it was their way of determining whether the seal was alive or dead. While it certainly sounds as if you took precautions not to harass the animals, I don't know how to get around the fact that people who know nothing of wildlife ethics will see you on the beach and think they too can climb down for a few shots. Don't we have to consider the effect our example will have on other people's behaviors toward animals as well as considering how our own actions directly affect animals? Shouldn't this consideration be folded into our own codes of ethics?

I use a small printed form that I created with boxes for all the information I might want to record. This cuts down on the amount of writing I have to do in the field. I've thought about using a small tape recorder, but I'd hate to have to transcribe the information later--how tedious!

 

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JE

Wow! That's service. Thank you Don and thank you Richard Shiell. Richard's article is very useful and I will be referring to it as I continue to define and refine my own system.

 

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--JE

I decided to post this question after reading the recent thread "Storage of slides."

 

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That thread began leaning toward a discussion of database design and image retrieval, and inspired me to throw out a question that's been on my mind. Are any of you using a controlled vocabulary when entering subject terms into your database? My MS Access database is set up so that I can choose any North American bird species or a selection of North American mammal species from drop down lists. I also have an entry form for other subject terms. Here I enter everything from "bridges" to "waterfalls." I use a standardized list of terms (the Library of Congress Thesaurus for Visual Materials) which is useful in many ways. The thesaurus, however, is weak when it comes to detailed nature terms. For example, I'd like to have a list of established terms for bird behaviors (terms for things like flying, preening, molting, singing, etc.). I realize that most of you will probably think this is overkill, but I'm an organizer by nature, and I find that consistently using the same terms to represent the same kinds of subjects makes retrieval much more successful. If anyone out there is on this wavelength, I'd like to hear what you have come up with for creating and standardizing your terminology.

 

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JE

What's the best time of year? It depends what birds you want to photograph. The ducks and geese start arriving in late October. You can learn more from the Morro Coast Audubon Society at PO Box 160, Morro Bay, CA 93443-0160. Or call their hotline at (805)528-7182. Also, Morro Bay has a Winter Bird Festival in January. I think this is run through the Chamber of Commerce.

 

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JE