This tutorial is part 8 of the OSINT At Home series. It covers how to find out when an image or video was taken using shadows.

This is a form of verification and documentation referred to as 'chronolocation', and generally follows the process of geolocation. It is part of a useful skillset in image forensics.

Using the shadows in a photo or video can help us identify or verify when something was taken. Sometimes we either have no metadata in an image or a video, or we simply cannot rely upon it, so a way to either double-check the legitimacy of a timestamp, or to find a window of time, is by turning objects seen in imagery into a sundial.

We’ve all seen sundials, and have observed how they work, so digitally, any object can be turned into one, so long as we can see a shadow.

It should be noted that doing a shadow calculation is just one way to identify the time of when something was taken, and that there are a number of other ways such as looking at the metadata, using satellite imagery to identify buildings or objects present/not present in your image, or simply by observing signs in the image such as seasons, event-related items such as annual festivals, and others digital clues (also don’t forget to image reverse search for more context).

Why is identifying time of when an image or video was taken important? Geolocating footage is often standard practice in open source investigations to put a given item in a geographical place. But putting something on a chronological timeline is equally as important, it could be evidence in the leadup to an event, an alternative angle, or it could be old footage taken in a similar location as new footage – which would muddy your results or could be possible disinformation/misinformation.

Simply put, identifying the time of media allows for more scrutiny of facts and events.

The OSINT At Home series is useful for those looking to find digital breadcrumbs and pick up some methods of open source intelligence (OSINT), digital investigations and good old plain research. No matter who you are, or where you are in the world, you can follow these tutorials from home with publicly available information to answer questions such as who, what, where and when.

TOOLS
Suncalc (with coordinates and time): https://www.suncalc.org/#/51.5033,-0....
Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps
Google Earth Pro: https://www.google.co.uk/earth/downlo...
Trigonometry calculator: http://www.carbidedepot.com/formulas-...
Google Image Reverse Search: https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en
Yandex Image Reverse Search: https://yandex.com/images/

CASE STUDIES
BBC Africa Eye – Anatomy of a Killing:    • Anatomy of a Killing - BBC News  
Forensic Architecture – Rafah – Shadow Analysis:    • Rafah - Shadow Analysis  
Bellingcat – An Execution in Hadrut: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/rest-...

MORE RESOURCES
Sector035 (AKA ‘Shadow Guy’) – Shadows and Suncalc:   / lining-up-shadows  
Nixintel – Digital Shadows: Seeking Sector035: https://nixintel.info/osint/digital-s...
Bellingcat – Using the Sun and the Shadows for Geolocation: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/...

SUPPORT ME:
Please do consider supporting this content so I can create more and keep it free, independent and accessible to everyone in the world: https://ko-fi.com/bendobrown

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CREDITS FOR THIS TUTORIAL
Imagery: Google Earth/Landsat Copernicus
SunCalc.org ©Torsten Hoffmann 2015-2021
VOA News: https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pand...
Music Intro: World’s Fair – God Mode
Music End: Dhaka by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: http://incompetech.com/