It is important to make the commitment to take the pictures every year, but be careful and don't get too ambitious. It is better to have a few sites where the pictures actually get taken every year, rather than having a larger number of sites whose photos are only retaken once in a great while. The best time to monitor pastures in rotational grazing systems is during the season or year when livestock are not in the pasture. The most important and most difficult part of using repeat photography is correctly identifying the cause of any change evidenced in the photographs. Knowledge and experience are needed to reach the correct conclusions.
Additional information needs to be collected to aid the interpretation.
Another way to aid photo interpretation is to make at least a preliminary interpretation while out in the field taking the pictures. This allows an opportunity to look for additional indicators, take extra pictures, or discuss the results with others. Waiting to interpret the photos until months later may mean it is too late in the year to revisit the site and collect more information. Ranchers just beginning to use repeat photography should remember that the oldest picture they'll ever have is the one they take today. However, one good way to jump-start a photographic record is to search through family photo albums looking for range scenes that can be rephotographed today.