Cloudberry

Raspberry Pi field rig for Pinchard's Island — captures photos from a GoPro HERO3/HERO4 or Pi camera module, uploads to S3, and powers down. Designed for WittyPi boot-once deployments.

Artist Statement

The simplicity of the Cloudberry photographs belies the complexity of the solar-powered camera system that makes them possible. A camera affixed to Adam’s family’s cabin on Pinchard’s Island takes the photographs continuously throughout the day and uploads them to the internet via cellular network. Able to control the camera and access the images from anywhere, Adam uses technology to maintain a constant presence in a place that is inaccessible most of the year. In capturing a view that recalls the experience of looking out the cabin’s window, the camera stands in for the photographer. Thus, these photographs constitute a political act: they allow an uninterrupted foothold on a place that was effectively erased when the Canadian government resettled the area shortly after Newfoundland became the country’s 10th province.

Comprised of thousands of photographs, the enormity of the Cloudberry project has inspired Adam to explore a new aspect of the sublime in his work. While other projects have focused on the pursuit of a single majestic photograph, Cloudberry inspires awe through its abundance of quotidian images. The title itself parallels this shift: while it may at first evoke the vast Newfoundland sky, Cloudberry in fact references the indigenous wild berry—colloquially known as a “bakeapple”—that flourishes on the seemingly inhospitable land.

The Cloudberry photographs are at once static and dynamic: though the frame remains exactly the same, the landscape is constantly changing. The enormous variety in the images recalls series of Impressionist paintings that show the same scene in different types of light, in all seasons, and throughout the day. The sky, the ocean, and the terrain in the photographs seem to change more readily than the immutable rocks, but even their appearance eventually transforms as the seasons change. Though Cloudberry highlights the specificity of this particular landscape, it also manifests the familiar desire to connect to one’s homeland not as a relic of the past but as a place that is alive.

Boot-once workflow

1. WittyPi powers the Pi on at the scheduled time
2. scripts/systemd/cloudberry.service runs cloudberry once at boot
3. Capture from GoPro or Pi camera, upload to S3
4. Optional shutdown_after halts the Pi until the next wake-up

Camera modes

camera_type	Hardware
H4	GoPro HERO4 over Wi‑Fi (default for Pinchard's Island)
H3	GoPro HERO3 over Wi‑Fi
picamera	Official Raspberry Pi camera module (picamera2)

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/adamsimms/cloudberry.git
cd cloudberry
cp .env.example secrets.env
cp config.ini.example config.ini
chmod 600 secrets.env config.ini
# Edit secrets.env and config.ini

./setup.sh
cloudberry --check-config
cloudberry

Secrets (secrets.env)

Never commit credentials. Copy .env.example → secrets.env:

• AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, AWS_S3_BUCKET
• GOPRO_WIFI_PASSWORD (required for H3/H4)
• GOPRO_MAC_ADDRESS (for H4 wake-on-LAN)

Also supported: ~/.cloudberry/secrets.env or CLOUDBERRY_SECRETS_FILE.

Island Wi‑Fi and GoPro field notes are in docs/field/secrets-reference.md but are not loaded by the app.

Configuration (config.ini)

Key	Description
general.camera_type	H3, H4, or picamera
general.take_photo	GoPro: shoot before downloading (true/false)
general.delay	Minutes to wait before capture
general.shutdown_after	Halt Pi after success
gopro.ip	GoPro IP (default 10.5.5.9)

See config.ini.example for Pi camera settings (awb_mode, exposure_mode, meter_mode, iso, and image tuning).

CLI

cloudberry --check-config
cloudberry --dry-run
cloudberry --retry-failed
cloudberry --shutdown

Field deployment

Step	Resource
Install Python deps + optional systemd	./setup.sh
WittyPi + optional shutdown sudoers	./scripts/wittypi-setup.sh
Boot-once schedule	Copy a .wpi from scripts/wittypi/ into WittyPi
Systemd service	scripts/systemd/cloudberry.service (installed by setup.sh)
GoPro CSI firmware	firmware/
Hardware PDFs and setup logs	docs/field/

Repo layout

Path	Purpose
cloudberry/	Python package (CLI, GoPro, Pi camera, S3)
docs/	Contributor docs, IAM policy, field guides
firmware/	GoPro HERO4 official + CamDo CSI firmware
scripts/wittypi/	WittyPi schedule scripts (.wpi)
scripts/wittypi-setup.sh	WittyPi installer + optional shutdown sudoers
scripts/systemd/	Boot-once user service template
assets/audio/	Static audio assets

Contributing

We welcome bug fixes, docs improvements, and rig-hardening changes. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, then open a PR against master.

Document	Purpose
CONTRIBUTING.md	Dev setup, checks, PR expectations
SECURITY.md	Vulnerability reporting
CHANGELOG.md	Release history

pip install -e ".[dev]"
python3 -m ruff check .
python3 -m pytest
pre-commit run --all-files

On a Pi: pip install -e ".[pi]".

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Security: see SECURITY.md