A camera was deployed to monitor cyanobacterial surface blooms occurring in Willow Creek Reservoir in Heppner, Oregon. The camera was positioned above the water and facing downwards to achieve the desired contrast in colors. With the appropriate permissions from USACE, the camera was attached to a railing of the Willow Creek Dam in the northwest corner of the reservoir about 70 feet above the surface of the water. The system was powered by a solar panel and large battery. The camera was programmed to take a series of 5 pictures from different angles every 15 minutes during daylight hours. During 2015, the camera was installed on May 14 and retrieved on November 9. A polarizing lens specific to the Axis 214 camera was tested from May 2015 to July 2015. The camera was installed at the same location on July 20, 2016 and was retrieved November 22, 2016. During 2016, the images were telemetered to a website. This dataset contains images of the surface of the water taken from the dam in the northwest corner of Willow Creek Reservoir. When the camera was fully functional, images were taken at 5 positions every 15 minutes during daylight hours. All images were checked for quality control before they were archived on this site. Photos that were dark (evening or early morning), blurry (taken when the camera was in motion), or obscured by glare were deleted from the dataset.