Lights, camera, bud pic.

[Locked]

You got some healthy lookin' plants there brother. What were you trying to cover the flash with? And what was the outcome you were hoping for? The pics look very nice. You seem to make your trichomes really pop out (just like your BPOTM photo). Do you do anything to help this?

Thanks Bro...I covered the flash with my finger..I let just a bit of flash leak out...I was trying to get a good bud pic without the washed out look of a full flash...no flash was to dark and a full flash wld make all the trichs look washed out so I tried covering it...

 

[Qman]

Holidayz are 'over' so I have a little time....

Alright here is a explanation of Depth of Field (DoF) which you control with you Aperture (those funny numbers like f/3.5-5.6) The smaller the number like f/3.5 the wider you lens is open, letting in more light (giving you less DoF) great for throwing the background (or foreground) out of focus. And, the lower the number the faster the lens (my lowest is f/1.8) The larger the number, say,,, f/11, your lens opening is much smaller, letting in less light (giving you more DoF) for taking pics of landscapes, Grand Canyon, etc....

PICS/examples


First - is of my Macro lens to show as a example
Second - my lens stopped all the way down to f/2.8 (wide open) - the effect you'll get in pic #4 (I was at f/3.3 on that pic)
Third - my lens stopped all the way up to f/32 (see the little pin hole) - the effect you'll get in pi #5 (I was at f/11 on that pic)
Fourth - is a pic taken at f/3.3 (see how the background is out of focus?)
Fifth - taken at f/11 (see the background is pretty clear?)
Sixth - and most important, imo - see the difference with and without a background? (pics 5&6) - So,,, take yourself to Wal-Mart and spend $5 bucks on a yard of a couple different fabrics, there is a few entries in this months BPOTM that would look waaaay better with a background (and on a TRIPOD)

I will do a 'real life' pic of this too, so you can apply these simple techniques to other things besides MJ...

More to come...

 

[Qman]

2 nl 5 and 1 blue widow bud...

Nvthis..I know the pics look awful with the overhead hps light on but when budding how do you get good pics during the dark time? do you just go in 15 minutes before the light change?

Yes, you can adjust you WB setting in your camera (I would try and use the "incandescent" setting under HPS) I take pics under HPS all the time. Trial and error will get you there. And like nv said, turning your lights out THEN taking the pic would be the best, BUT, usually it will be dark and you will halve to light the area anyway.

 

[Qman]

Cool Hammy, thanks!

But the question still remains...

HOW do you make the shot????? I mean there is obviously a difference between Tc's moon and the moon in the other picture....

Moon shots are hard, I'm still trying. That photo looks like it was taken with a Telephoto lens to get all the detail like it did...

 

[Qman]

ISO sensitivity - basically tells the image sensor in your camera how sensitive you want it to light. The higher you set your ISO the more sensitive it will be towards light (like in low light scenarios, you would 'generally' boost your ISO a little) BUT, beware, the higher the ISO the more "noise" you WILL get (in my examples I show you "noise"). I usually shoot in the 200 - 800 range, the lower the ISO say 200 you absolutely must be on a TRIPOD, when I'm walking with my camera I usually have it at 400 or 800 (or my camera has auto, if I'm feeling lazy) depending on the light. When I'm taking bud shots I shoot at 200 because I can control the light, and I'm on a TRIPOD.

My camera is the best right now (well,,, one of them) for lowest noise especially at higher ISO (mine is capable of 6400 ISO, though I will most likely not go there) BUT as you can see noise is still noticeable at 800 ISO


PICS/examples

Not great pictures but they are good examples...

It was about 7:00 p.m. and pretty dark. See in the sky how it's grainy? that's noise - Cool that I could not see the mountains, let alone the snow on 'em

First - I was on this bridge (Sundial Bridge, and you can get a good idea on how dark it was) and it sways making the next 2 pics "not stable" though on a TRIPOD I was about half way down shooting on the left side
Second - taken at ISO 800 and my shutter stayed open for 30 sec. at f/11
Third - taken at ISO 1600, everything else stayed the same, see the difference in the noise? - I should have shot one at 400 but didn't, my bad.

NOTE: see in the pics towards the 'back' of the pic you see a 'streak'? Those are tail/headlights from cars going over the bridge. I've been on a hunt to get a better example of this....

 

[Qman]

2 more pics

First - ISO 1600 - you can really see the noise
Second - ISO 800

I like the first one the best out of all these shots, it's just OK tho....

 

[2Dog]

2dog, a most excellent question! The answer is both yes and no. Yes, you can go in and shoot during lights out, but I wouldn't recommend it. It would probably be easier to just turn your HPS off for a bit during lights on, if that is what you wanted to do. But really, having a good understanding of your camera functions should suffice, even under your HPS. A simple adjustment to your white balance (Q will go into this in a little more depth, I am sure) will take care of the yellow wash. The balance features on my camera read flo1, flo2, flo3, cloudy, incandescent, etc., etc. I would suggest trying the incandescent setting. This should eliminate the yellow wash of your HPS give everything that nice bright 'green' look. If your camera doesn't have that exact setting don't worry. Just watch your LCD screen as you toggle through the settings.

There are other settings on your camera that will further the quality of photos under HPS. I know how to play with them, but would refrain trying to explain it to someone else and yeild to someone with the ability to explain clearly and correctly I am sure it won't take long... But, for now, play with the balance a little and see what you think!


Post #171 were all shot directly under my HPS...
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?p=594296#post594296

I will reread this while funning with my camera later thanks man..

 

[2Dog]

Yes, you can adjust you WB setting in your camera (I would try and use the "incandescent" setting under HPS) I take pics under HPS all the time. Trial and error will get you there. And like nv said, turning your lights out THEN taking the pic would be the best, BUT, usually it will be dark and you will halve to light the area anyway.

thanks man!

 

[nvthis]

Thanks Bro...I covered the flash with my finger..I let just a bit of flash leak out...I was trying to get a good bud pic without the washed out look of a full flash...no flash was to dark and a full flash wld make all the trichs look washed out so I tried covering it...

Hola Q! Very nice man. I'll have a few questions for you later today..

Hammy, yeah, the ol' 'cover the flash with your finger' thing is a total bust bro. I have tried a bunch of diffusion tricks and what I have learned is two things...

1. Use something that is semi-transparent or highly reflective. Fingers are not transparent at all and don't work so good. Some ideas are paper and plastic.

2. There are settings on your camera that can compensate for some diffusion (^^^^see Q's posts above^^^^).

Modern digitals are amazing. But, then, I love manual diffusion!!! Actually that's a little misleading. To phrase it right I should say I love 'flooding'. The idea being that you would take a strong light source, such as your flash (try to invision the light as a pointed spear) and break up and disburse the light in as many different directions as possible. Kind of like having a light source with no starting point. Just a light that 'fills' the area being photographed. This is something you will see in any photography studio you walk into, you know, the white umbrella thingys. Breaking light is very important. I say forget this post and anything else you have read for a moment. Go back and try again, but let your imagination lead the way and see what happens. You very well may surprise yourself!

Hammy, go back to the beginning of this thread and check out the last pic on post#3 I think. The ones with the red backdrop. This was taken with a single source light (the flash). Notice the lack of shadow in this pic. Also notice how the light is both on top of the leaves and underneath the leaves, and also bathing the bud. Pretty cool stuff... Also note the quality of the light vs. a straight flash shot...

 

[nvthis]

Alright here is a explanation of Depth of Field (DoF) which you control with you Aperture (those funny numbers like f/3.5-5.6) The smaller the number like f/3.5 the wider you lens is open, letting in more light (giving you less DoF) great for throwing the background (or foreground) out of focus. And, the lower the number the faster the lens (my lowest is f/1.8) The larger the number, say,,, f/11, your lens opening is much smaller, letting in less light (giving you more DoF) for taking pics of landscapes, Grand Canyon, etc....

Ok Q, thanks for running down the aperture function for us. I just want to add a small blurb to this that all us stoners can remember with very llittle effort... This was told to me by a member here on MP. She was a little shy about posting this when I requested it's use, but gave me the go ahead to put it in.. In the words of her birthdaughter, an accomplished and motivated photographer-ess in her own right (whom you may be lucky enough to encounter during an afternoon stroll along Stinson Beach..)


Aperture. The butthole in my camera

"I had to laugh when my birthdaughter sent me an explanation on the F-stops. I could never remember how the numbers worked, or in which direction.
She wrote me:

"Let me explain by using "the anus" analogy. I bet that sounded strange. I could never remember the name of the aperture, which is the hole in the camera that opens and closes like an anus. I had to create a funny way for me to remember the confusing math so I used the butt method to remember.

It's basically when the butt hole is really closed up tight with a tiny opening it would take 22 minutes to poop (as in f22). If the butt hole is really opened wide it would only take 2 minutes to poop ( as in f2.5).

I also figured it out with a laser pen( f22) versus a big flashlight (f2.5). The laser pen is super sharp from here to infinity. Everything is in focus. Flashlight (f2.5) on the other hand has a lot more light, but not nearly as sharp, nor can travel as far. Think one area in focus, the rest blurry."

Well, that had me rolling on the floor, for sure. Out of the mouth of babes, eh?"

To the member that gifted this to all of us, thanks! You know who you are

 

[Qman]

Great analogy

 

[nvthis]

Second - taken at ISO 800 and my shutter stayed open for 30 sec. at f/11

Ok Q, let's see if we can open this up a bit.. So, how does this work? How does setting your ISO at 800 and your aperture at f/11 keep your shutter open for 30 seconds? Will setting the aperture at f/11 keep your shutter open that long regardless of other settings? And does aperture pertain to focus or shutter speed (or is that ISO?) or both? If I want to shoot tail lights and get that long streaming effect, am I going with the lower ISO? Or the higher aperture? On my camera these two functions are accessed by the same button. One button brings up both functions. They seem very intergrated. How does one effect the other and what are some real life stoner ways to understand and use both in tandom? I mean it is obvious in the pics above that you had a plan, or at least some idea of what you wanted and how you were going to arrive there (as opposed to randomly changing your settings) so how would a regular joe understand how these two very important functions interact???

 

[2Dog]

Yes, you can adjust you WB setting in your camera (I would try and use the "incandescent" setting under HPS) I take pics under HPS all the time. Trial and error will get you there. And like nv said, turning your lights out THEN taking the pic would be the best, BUT, usually it will be dark and you will halve to light the area anyway.

I am looking through the menu I dont see anything that says incandescent..hmmm..iit has pixel adjustment, color adjust like black white siennaI alos looked under brightness..maybe my camera doesnt have it..it's a kodak 3x optimal zoom not an expensive camera..10.3 mp..

 

[2Dog]

ok different options like auto or close up have different mneus I am not seeing..the options of
Auto, daylight, tungsten, flourescent, open shade...I have had it on auto..bummer no incandescent.. do you guys suggest one of these thanks so much!

 

[umbra]

I'm not sure how I missed this thread, lol. Great job nvthis. Do you think I can join in? Any excuse to pick up a camera and take pix is good enough for me.

 

[nvthis]

I'm not sure how I missed this thread, lol. Great job nvthis. Do you think I can join in? Any excuse to pick up a camera and take pix is good enough for me.

Hey Umbra! Welcome brother. Everyone is welcome here! Please feel free to add what you know.

Just remember: Take from here whatever you want , but be sure to return later and put some back!

 

[nvthis]

ok different options like auto or close up have different mneus I am not seeing..the options of
Auto, daylight, tungsten, flourescent, open shade...I have had it on auto..bummer no incandescent.. do you guys suggest one of these thanks so much!

My guess would be tungsten. Do these options change the view on your LCD screen?

Gotta go to work 2dog... If Q or someone isn't around today, I'll try to help more later.. But my guess is you won't have to wait that long...

 

[umbra]

Hey Umbra! Welcome brother. Everyone is welcome here! Please feel free to add what you know.

Just remember: Take from here whatever you want , but be sure to return later and put some back!

I don't know that I really know anything...:hubba:. Maybe try playing with extension tubes and ring flashes. I learned photography just like I have learned everything in my life... by doing it. So I dont know much about the technical aspects, I just know what looks good to me. I take lots of non cannabis shots...lots of shots. I'm trying to shoot every day. I won a photo contest earlier this year, and the judge said it broke every rule of photography.

 

[Qman]

ok different options like auto or close up have different mneus I am not seeing..the options of
Auto, daylight, tungsten, flourescent, open shade...I have had it on auto..bummer no incandescent.. do you guys suggest one of these thanks so much!

I would try auto OR daylight. Play around and see how it works.

The black/white, sienna, etc... are all post processing options that you can use to add effects to your pics, has nothing to do with capturing your image...

 

[Qman]

I'm not sure how I missed this thread, lol. Great job nvthis. Do you think I can join in? Any excuse to pick up a camera and take pix is good enough for me.

What's up Umbra, love that second picture of the leaf