def _get_image(self,params):

        im_spec = None

        if self._image is None:
            # if we don't have an image then block until we get one
            im_spec = self.camera.image_queue.get()
            self.camera.image_queue.task_done()

        # Make sure we clear the image queue and get the most recent image.
        while not self.camera.image_queue.empty():
            im_spec = self.camera.image_queue.get_nowait()
            self.camera.image_queue.task_done()

        if im_spec:
            # If we got a new image from the queue, then
            # construct a PIL image from it.
            self._decode_image(*im_spec)
            return True
        else:
            return False