Photography in archaeology

[John Wells]

But to get back to the photography stuff...........John, where do you see your experiments leading to is my burning question?

A greater understanding of aerial images?
Prospecting for sites before excavation?
Or the identification of individual unexcavated features on an already stripped area from the ground?
Or as an aid to show already excavated features more vividly?

Or all of the above?

I think there may have been an initial misunderstanding of your questions
'Have any readers photographed areas of an excavation outside the visible spectrum (near UV and near IR), with a normal digital camera on a tripod and appropriate filters?
Has anyone used a thermal imaging camera with any success? '

Most amateur archaeology groups go digging. For us, digging is a last resort and our trust has been set up with that implied: www.wlatrust.org.uk
Digging a site is obviously damaging.
My original questions had come from wondering what work was being done to get as much information as possible from a site before any data was irretrievably lost, especially of artefacts that may be mere 'shadows' in the ground....as some features are 'shadows' in the landscape with little left in the ground.

My present view:
A greater understanding of [LOW LEVEL] aerial images YES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUES FOR USE WITH KITES. For a more academic overview see the rigourous work of Geert Verhoeven. Our approach is pragmatic.
Prospecting for sites before excavation - YES TO PROSPECTION BUT IN LIMITED AREAS OF KNOWN POTENTIAL, POSSIBLE EXCAVATION BY OTHERS.
The identification of individual unexcavated features on an already stripped area from the ground - NORMALLY NO, UNLESS WE ARE INVITED TO A SITE.
As an aid to show already excavated features more vividly - OR TO SEE FEATURES OUTSIDE THE VISIBLE SPECTRUM and TO SEE ANYTHING MISSED IN THE LOCALITY.

Our original intentions are still posted on:
http://www.armadale.org.uk/archaeologyintro.htm

We moved to Scotland from the archaeologically rich Cotswolds in 2004 where I had had no interest in archaeology.
We settled in the post-industrial, archaeological black hole of West Lothian with shallow soils on volcanic hills and soggy fields.
On our first sites, where we brought in the Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society (Yes, they gave us the kick start) soil resistance and magnetometry were not always productive.
Kite aerial work was........so, when archaeologist Jim Knowles wandered onto one of our sites in 2008 and had a go with one of our kites, it was not long before the West Lothian Archaeology Group was formed.

Ultimately, the responsibility for the direction of the Group depends on Jim.