Power consumption is an essential issue in wireless multimedia sensor networks (WMSNs) due to the elevated processing capabilities requested by the video acquisition hardware installed on the generic sensor node. Hence, node placement scheme in WMSNs greatly impacts the overall network lifetime. In this context, the paper first proposes a suitable hardware architecture to implement a feasible WMS node based on off-the-shelf technology, then it evaluates the energy consumption obtained throughout a wise "energy-spaced" placement of the wireless nodes without affecting the video quality of multimedia traffic.