# Annotating photo views **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [July 17, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/annotating-photo-views/14513 "2020-07-17T14:08:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dan\_johnson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dan_johnson/32/1449_2.png) [@dan\_johnson](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/dan_johnson)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/annotating-photo-views/14513/1 "2020-07-17T14:08:03Z")
I would like to somehow annotate a cicada observation with a flag indicating a ventral view photo is present, and then would like to be able to search on that flag so that I can browse observations with ventral view photos. Any recommendations on how to do this if possible? ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/annotating-photo-views/14513/2 "2020-07-17T14:16:17Z")
i would use observation fields for this. for example, you could use this observation field, or create something for yourself: [https://www.inaturalist.org/observation\_fields/7691](https://www.inaturalist.org/observation_fields/7691) and then you would be able to search by the observation field + value: [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=any&place\_id=any&field:Viewpoint=Lateral%20view%20only](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=any&place_id=any&field:Viewpoint=Lateral%20view%20only) or by just the field: [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=any&place\_id=any&field:Viewpoint](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=any&place_id=any&field:Viewpoint) ---
**Author:** ![upupa-epops](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/upupa-epops/32/1972_2.png) [@upupa-epops](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/upupa-epops)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/annotating-photo-views/14513/3 "2020-07-17T14:19:20Z")
As far as I can tell searching this only gets exact matches, for example a search for “dorsal” brings up only one observation: [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=any&place\_id=any&field:Viewpoint=dorsal](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=any&place_id=any&field:Viewpoint=dorsal) and doesn’t include this observation: [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6636372](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6636372) So maybe a separate observation field would be necessary for each angle to search them easily? ---
**Author:** ![upupa-epops](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/upupa-epops/32/1972_2.png) [@upupa-epops](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/upupa-epops)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/annotating-photo-views/14513/4 "2020-07-17T14:21:38Z")
If you’re only interested in tracking the ventral view, there is this field: [https://www.inaturalist.org/observation\_fields/12194](https://www.inaturalist.org/observation_fields/12194) ---
**Author:** ![dan\_johnson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dan_johnson/32/1449_2.png) [@dan\_johnson](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/dan_johnson)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/annotating-photo-views/14513/5 "2020-07-17T14:22:41Z")
Maybe a field “ventral\_viewpoint=yes” or do we need a “=yes”? ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/annotating-photo-views/14513/6 "2020-07-17T14:27:54Z")
ah, yes. i didn’t consider the possibility for multiple viewpoints. so then i think creating a series of related observation fields like “Viewpoint: Dorsal”, “Viewpoint: Ventral”, etc. would be appropriate. then the data type should be text and restricted to a list of possible values such as yes|no. ---
**Author:** ![upupa-epops](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/upupa-epops/32/1972_2.png) [@upupa-epops](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/upupa-epops)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/annotating-photo-views/14513/7 "2020-07-17T14:36:36Z")
I think there’s a case to be made for allowing one observation field to be used multiple times ([another example](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/other-species-heard-in-the-calls-of-mockingbirds-and-other-mimics/11396/15) that could have multiple use cases), but I’m not sure how much demand there is for that. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/annotating-photo-views/14513/8 "2020-09-15T14:36:46Z")
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