Garage Construction Project

CLAUDE

5 min read

Pictures Folder - AI Assistant Guide

This document provides important context for AI assistants working with photo documentation in this folder.

Critical: Pixel Phone Timezone Issue

The Problem

Pixel phone filenames contain UTC timestamps, NOT local Eastern time.

The filename format is: PXL_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSSTTT.jpg

  • Example: PXL_20251030_132458239.jpg
  • The timestamp 132458 means 13:24:58 UTC
  • This is NOT the local time when the photo was taken

The Solution

Always convert UTC to Eastern Time (EDT/EST) in documentation:

  • Eastern Daylight Time (EDT): UTC - 4 hours (March-November)
  • Eastern Standard Time (EST): UTC - 5 hours (November-March)

Conversion Examples

October 30, 2025 (EDT active):

PXL_20251030_132458239.jpg → 13:24 UTC → 9:24 AM EDT ✓
PXL_20251030_154535475.jpg → 15:45 UTC → 11:45 AM EDT ✓

October 20, 2025 (EDT active):

PXL_20251020_181223482.jpg → 18:12 UTC → 2:12 PM EDT ✓
PXL_20251020_224944298.jpg → 22:49 UTC → 6:49 PM EDT ✓

Why This Matters

Without timezone conversion, documentation shows impossible times:

  • Photos at “10:49 PM” that show bright daylight
  • Concrete truck “arriving at 1:24 PM” when it actually arrived at 9:24 AM
  • Work appearing to happen 4 hours later than it actually did

Standard Workflow: Adding New Photos

When the user adds new photos to this folder, you should automatically:

  1. Create markdown description files for each photo following the existing pattern

    • Analyze the photo content to write detailed descriptions
    • Follow the structure of existing .md files in this folder
    • Use appropriate tags based on photo content and construction phase
    • Include comprehensive “Visible Elements” sections

  2. Add photos to the index page (index.md)

    • Group by date under appropriate heading
    • Add weather summary for the day under the date heading
    • Use chronological order within each date
    • Include corrected EDT/EST times (not UTC!)
    • Link to the markdown files with descriptive titles

  3. Update related documentation as needed

    • Add photo links to build progress documents if relevant
    • Update timeline entries if photos document new milestones

This workflow should happen automatically without needing explicit instructions each time.

Weather Data Integration

When documenting photos from construction dates, automatically add weather information using the weather-mcp MCP tool. Weather context helps understand photo conditions and construction quality.

Adding Weather to Photo Documentation

  1. Fetch weather for photo date:

    • Use mcp__weather__get_historical_weather for dates within past 7 days
    • Location: Detroit, MI (42.3314°N, -83.0458°W)

  2. Add to Photo Details section:

    ## Photo Details
 
- **Date**: Month DD, YYYY
- **Time**: H:MM AM/PM EDT (or EST)
- **Weather**: [Conditions], [Temp]. [Context about visibility/conditions]
- **Phase**: Construction phase

  3. Example weather entries:

    • **Weather:** Clear skies, 59°F. Excellent visibility for photography.
    • **Weather:** Light drizzle, overcast, 48°F. Wet conditions visible in photo.
    • **Weather:** Partly cloudy, 52°F. Good lighting conditions.

Proactive Workflow

When user adds new construction photos or asks to document photos, automatically fetch and include weather data:

  1. Add weather to each individual photo’s markdown file
  2. Add weather summary to the date section in index.md

Index.md Weather Format:

## October 30, 2025 - Concrete Foundation Pour 🎉
 
**Weather:** Light drizzle during pour, overcast, 45-50°F. Challenging conditions.
 
**Major Milestone:** Complete concrete foundation pour...

Photo Documentation Workflow

When Adding New Photos

  1. Extract timestamp from filename:

    • Filename: PXL_20251030_132458239.jpg
    • UTC time: 13:24:58 (HH:MM:SS)

  2. Convert to Eastern Time:

    • Determine if EDT (UTC-4) or EST (UTC-5) based on date
    • EDT: Second Sunday in March through first Sunday in November
    • EST: First Sunday in November through second Sunday in March
    • Subtract hours: 13:24 UTC - 4 hours = 9:24 AM EDT

  3. Document in markdown frontmatter:

    date: 2025-10-30
time: 09:24

  4. Document in photo details:

    - **Time**: 9:24 AM EDT

Photo Markdown Template

When creating photo documentation, use this structure:

---
title: YYYY-MM-DD - Photo Description
type: photo-documentation
tags: [construction, relevant-tags]
date: YYYY-MM-DD
time: HH:MM
phase: foundation|framing|etc
status: in-progress|completed
---
 
# Photo Title
 
![Alt Text](filename.jpg)
 
## Photo Details
 
- **Date**: Month DD, YYYY
- **Time**: H:MM AM/PM EDT (or EST)
- **Phase**: Construction phase
- **Location**: 309 E. 7th St., Clare, MI
- **View**: Perspective description
 
## Description
 
Detailed description of what's visible in the photo...

File Naming Patterns

Pixel Phone Photos

  • Pattern: PXL_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSSTTT.jpg
  • Timestamp: UTC (not local time!)
  • Example: PXL_20251030_132458239.jpg

DJI Drone Photos

  • Pattern: DJI_####.JPG
  • Numbering: Sequential (DJI_0886.JPG, DJI_0887.JPG, etc.)
  • Timestamp: Check EXIF data or rely on file modification time
  • Note: Usually already in local time

Photo Organization

Index Page Structure

Photos are organized chronologically by date on index.md:

## October 30, 2025 - Description
 
Brief overview of what happened this day.
 
- [[Photo1.md|Description (TIME)]]
- [[Photo2.md|Description (TIME)]]

Sorting

  • Photos within a day are sorted by time (earliest first)
  • The /pictures folder uses date-sort in reverse (newest first) via Quartz config

Common Pitfalls

❌ Don’t Do This

- **Time**: 1:24 PM  # This is UTC, not local time!
time: 13:24          # This is UTC, not local time!

✓ Do This

- **Time**: 9:24 AM EDT  # Converted from 13:24 UTC
time: 09:24              # 24-hour format, Eastern Time

Quick Reference Card

Filename UTCEDT ConversionEST Conversion
12:00 (noon)8:00 AM EDT7:00 AM EST
13:249:24 AM EDT8:24 AM EST
15:4511:45 AM EDT10:45 AM EST
18:122:12 PM EDT1:12 PM EST
22:496:49 PM EDT5:49 PM EST

Quick Checklist: New Photo Addition

When user adds new photos (e.g., “I dropped some new photos in the pictures folder”):

  • Read each new .jpg file to analyze photo content
  • Extract UTC timestamp from Pixel phone filenames
  • Convert UTC to EDT/EST for documentation
  • Create .md file for each photo following existing pattern:
    • YAML frontmatter with date, time, tags, phase, status
    • Photo Details section with converted time
    • Description with “Visible Elements” subsections
    • Related Documents links
  • Add to index.md under appropriate date heading
  • Update related build docs if needed (Initial Build, Timeline, etc.)
  • Commit with descriptive message

Example user prompt that triggers this workflow:

  • “I added some new photos to the pictures folder”
  • “Please document these new photos I just uploaded”
  • “Create descriptions for the latest pictures”
  • Initial Build - Links to photo documentation by phase
  • Timeline - Timeline references photo dates/times
  • Parent CLAUDE.md - Main project documentation guide

This file is ignored in Quartz builds but tracked in git for AI assistant reference.

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