I was just thinking about putting together a PDF or a blog post or something that would make a good reference for diagnostic views of each taxa to identify them to species.
For example land snails you need a photo of the “front” of the shell, one of the umbilicus, and one photo of the profile looking into the aperture to ID most species.
If experts want to chime in on what views are needed for different groups I will put it all together in some format.
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There was a similar discussion here: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/photo-taking-recommendations-by-taxon/1962
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Who is the designated audience? Keep in mind, most casual users don’t know how to identify a specimen past a very general level. And since each taxon has very different requirements, this project might get huge very quickly.
Paradoxically, users may not know what to look for for ID if they don’t already have an idea what they have (eg Family or better, for most plants)
though for some it’s pretty easy: e.g. for birds: “try to take a photo of the whole bird, from multiple angles, but even if you have a shot of a far away bird in poor lighting behind partial cover, someone will know it anyway” … LOL
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Other than the last part it’s a good describtion of any taxon: photograph all you can and if you think it’s a not needed angle you definitely will need it for an id.
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