Lights, camera, bud pic.

[nvthis]

Oooookay, I must have taken 150 pictures today, and most of them are bad. Even the good ones aren't really good.

:aok: :rofl: :ciao: That makes you MM, officially, a full fledged-full pledged member of the club!!! Your motivation is certainly in the right place. Now you know. Now you know what might drive the Qman to sit through an 800 pic shoot!.... All in the name of the hunt. 800 shots for an 'all too small' handful of great pics.

Carry on!:aok:

By the way, that 4th & 6th pic looks pretty sharp! Love the trichs too... I still say a little more shutter speed maybe..

 

[mojavemama]

NV, thank you!!!! You are such an inspiration, and so patient with me!
Now, you say I should try a higher shutter speed--what exactly do you mean?
That's the f-stop? I was shooting at f8 200 iso. I'm not sure what "higher" means. Thank you so much for your help and patience. I was so ready today to tear my hair out, and just give up---but you always manage to calm me down, pick me up off the floor, and push me to keep on snapping those pictures....

 

[nvthis]

Ok, f/stop. Remember, "f" for "focus". It can help the background become blurry or focused (just remember the flashlight/lazer beam analogy or even like squinting to see something far away.)

Shutter speed, of course, is pretty self axplanatory. The slower the speed, the more time the 'door' is open. This number doesn't always end in a "00" number, but can include numbers like 250, 320, & 640. Try this: Stick one finger up and wave it in front of your face. Now close your eyes for a second. Open your eyes and close them again as fast as you can. What did you see? You probably saw a fleeting image of your finger in a stationary position. Now, do it again but this time let your eyes stay open just a bit longer. You should see some movement this time. This is what your camera 'sees', depending on shutter speed and the slower the speed, the more movement (blurriness) it will see.

You might, just for fun, turn the dial on the top of your camera to the "S" setting. This should be the shutter priority setting. This will give you an opportunity to just play around with it a while and find out what kind of differences it makes in your camera.

 

[Qman]

Your ARE improving MM! your composition is getting better.

Shooting close-ups @ f/8 is not going to give you the results your looking for. Try dropping your f/# down to something like f/2.8 (or the lowest f/# your camera allows)And, bring your ISO up to 400. Take a couple/few pics like this while trying different WB settings

Shutter speed and f/#'s (aperture) are two different things. To put it simple. Shutter speed determines how long your sensor is exposed to the image/subject. f/#'s (aperture) determines how much of your sensor is exposed to the image/subject. The lower your f/# (say f/2.8) the wider your lens is open, letting in more light (see my pics of my macro lens post #62) the higher the # (say f/8) the smaller your lens opening, letting in less light

I always shoot close-ups with my lens all the way open (my fastese lens is f/1.8)

Most of all, have fun, they are your pictures and you can do whatever you want with them. I have gotten good/great shots with 'unconventional' settings

I still suck and am always looking to improve, I was out today taking pics playing with my settings....

 

[mojavemama]

WOWWWW......it's starting to make sense now. THANK YOU NV and Qman!
Tomorrow I'll start over and try the new settings.

NV, my camera doesn't have an "S" on the dial. But I'll look in the book and see if there isn't something like that.

THANK YOU BOTH SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!

 

[tcbud]

I am gonna say a few things about the Composition of your photos. Composition means where you put things in your view finder, placing of the subject or the view in the Frame.


Portraits, Fill the picture with your subject. As in fill the frame (viewfinder, from here I will call it a frame) with the bud/subject. Center the subject also (pic 1 - 2 ) Even tho I took these two with the zoom, as you can see I filled the frame, I did not crop these (which is another way to fill the frame but that is in edit, not when taking the pic). Note in pic 2, I cut off his feet, that makes the pic not "FEEL" right, to me. Where the other pic is centered, it is full frame pretty much and there is a good contrast between the sky and the item the ducks are on. Pic three, note again, how there are two items, both the subject and the frame is full of subject. I used the zoom with the flash in the 3rd pic also. Of the three pics, I like the duck pic best as it feels totally correct to my eye and therefore my comfort with it is good.

Framing Within Your Photo, this means using what is behind or before your photo to frame your subject. This is just a technique, it is not a rule. Pic 4 -5 the subject is the sunset, the darkness frames the light of the sky. Pic 6 the subject is the mountain and the trees frame the mountain. Framing the subject with the fore or background is not always possible. I am just showing that it can be done and looks nice.

Play with your camera, if you can get a "Frame" look, with the zoom, as in the mountain pic try it. Also, even the green leaves from your plants can "frame" your bud pics. Give these techniques a try. Check my bpom entry, the frame can be the darkness around the subject even.

tcbud husband is looking at her like it is time for some chow here....so, gonna get to that in a minute.

Remember the "feel" of the pic, how does it make you feel? Pic 6 makes me feel good for some reason (my memories of that evening prolly).....and it is just a so so pic. Memories of the actual experience surrounding your picture also add to the feel for you, but someone who is not there will not feel those feelings. So, captureing the magic moment with framing and filling the frame help get a real good pic for others to view.

Again, take Lots and lots of pics.

 

[subcool]

I was asked to contribute to this thread but hell I ended up learning things great tips bro!!

You certainly know more than me about the mechanics I follow your one main rule which is take a lot of pics.

Here is an article I did on shooting though I am not sure it will help on the bottom of all this great info.

 

[subcool]

Cannabis Photography​

Digitizing the Dank​

By Subcool​

​

“I wish I could take pictures like you do Sub” is a statement I see more than any other. I have no formal training and everything I have learned I taught myself. If I can you can! Since my very first opportunity to look through a macro lens I have been hooked. Cannabis is such an amazing subject and through a powerful macro lens it can take on an almost Alien appearance. While I would not begin to try and teach anyone about Photography technique ( I am still learning myself) I think I can offer some pointers to greatly improve the pictures most of you take of your favorite plants.​

The basics people often forget are to use a well-lit white room, no incandescent lighting its produces yellow hues. No toilets, buckets, brooms moms or dog turds in the background take the time to clean up a bit or you might end up with a shop vacuum in a Cannabis magazine with your favorite plant.​

The next thing is the one that is going to upset you hydro growers. You cannot take proper pictures under a HID light. While white balancing and editing with photo software can make a picture taken under HID better you will never achieve the results I do until you use a properly lit area to photograph in. Without spending a fortune on fancy lights and reflectors you can still take amazing shots with a very in expensive “Light Tent”.​

I set mine up by using some white sheets and several CFL bulbs mounted in painters reflectors you can buy at any hardware store in the painting section.​

Cut the sheets or cheap white fabric into 4 foot wide sections and select a bright corner of a room to hang 3 sections to form a box open on one end. Once the cloth is in place position your CFL lamps on the outside of the tent facing the cloth so that the light is deflected in an even pattern. I like to use a combination of natural sunlight type bulbs and bulbs that lean to the blue side of the spectrum. Try placing the bulbs in different locations to see what effect they lend. Experiment till you get the best even lighting but do not take this lightly if you do not have enough external lighting your pictures will not be as sharp as you would like.​

Next on the list is a good back drop to contrast your subject. You don’t have to spend a fortune here either cheap cloth is 1-3$ per yard and even fine crushed velvet is only 5-7$ per yard. Two square yards is plenty to shoot against and over the past few years we have collected some 2 dozen different ones to compliment either the color of the bud or the festive time of year like Christmas or the Skull cloth I use for Halloween shots. Invest in a few but make sure Black and Purple Velvet are among the ones you collect first. We hang the back drop and position the plant in front but at least 12-16” distance between back drop and subject. You want focus on Bud not backdrop.​

It’s finally time to talk about camera’s! You might think you need some ultra expensive DSLR to get great close ups and it does help but my Cover shot of Sputnik on the cover of Big Book of Buds 3 was taken with a Nikon Coolpix Digicam. How was I able to achieve this with a simple point and shoot camera with a fixed lens? I used a Tripod! This is the one thing so many amateur photographers take for granted. When taking close up shots everything has to be perfectly still and even the steadiest of hands will waver as the shutter opens and closes. So what ever type of camera your using mount it on a tripod. When researching a point and shoot digital camera for use on close ups the only important factor is the minimum focal distance. This will be in the specifications of the camera. The Nikon Coolpix 5400 has the ability to focus as close as 1cm from the lens although 2cm is more common with most point and shoot cameras today.​

If your camera won’t get closer than that with a fixed lens your close ups won’t be as sharp or as close as you want. The final aspect of close up photography I employ is a lens mount ring flash. This is critical to get really close and still have proper lighting on the subject. While I now shoot with a professional rig and a Sigma Ring flash when I started I simply built my own using this great online tutorial.​

​

​

hXXp://brainerror.net/texts/howto/macroring/[/URL]​

​

Without a lens mount lamp or flash your camera body or even the barrel of the lens itself may block the external light and cause shadows. Using a ring light is the easiest way to prevent this and also provide enough illumination to capture a close up shot in a crisp clean form. Led lights really make trichomes stand out and its pretty easy to fashion a home made light using a few of these inexpensive bulbs.​

Once I learned a few things and I was able to sell a shot to Big Book 3, I decided to buy a SLR camera and a nice macro lens. I took it out of the box and my first 100 pictures were terrible. It is amazing how many settings a point and shoot camera figures out for you, automatically and when its left up to you some education is required. What I am saying is it is much easier to get good close ups with a point and shoot macro camera than it is with a SLR until you learn a few basic settings. As I said I won’t try and teach photography but I wanted you to understand unless your willing to put in the time a Digital camera may be a better choice than a full blown SLR.​

Photography is an amazing and addictive hobby and there is always a better lens to buy or a better tripod or something exotic like Macro Rails, but that doesn’t mean it cost a lot to get started, I bought my first Nikon on Ebay for under 400$ with a Nikon SL-1 ring lamp included.​

Several months later a photograph taken by me with that camera was featured on the Cover of Big Book 3. It went on to take many pictures for many magazines and books! Dare to dream and there are no limits to what you can achieve.​

Subcool is the Author of “Dank the Quest for the very best Marijuana”​

Availible soon at​

REMOVED

 

[nvthis]

Subcool, thank you brother. Amazing pics!

 

[Qman]

Subcool, thanks for stopping by bro! that's a great easy set-up you have there, I got to get a ring flash, how much PP do you do?

 

[nvthis]

That ring flash just gives the most amazing 'ghostly' glow to the buds, don't it? That is a crazy good light source. There are some killer shots to be had with that equipment. And how fun would it be to experiment with a piece like that? Sub's really got it down too.

 

[lordhighlama]

very cool pics subcool... glad you dropped in to post this. That ring flash looks really wicked!

 

[umbra]

In his photos, subcool is showing his Nikon coolpix 5400. I bought one on ebay for $50. I bought this camera for my son. It is more than capable of very good photos. In regards to the ring flash, subby had to modify that one to fit on the coolpix. There are currently no ring flash units for this point and shoot, or many other point and shoot cameras. I use the nikon SB21 on my D200. I bought it on ebay, too. What holds the ring flash on my D200 is a screw on adapter. It threads to the inside threads on the lens, and there is a spring loaded clamp that attaches to the ring flash, itself. I was able to find a similar type screw in adapter that fit inside the lens on the coolpix. The outside diameter of the adapter was not large enough to clamp on to the ring flash, so I epoxied another piece to it that was. Now my ring flash works on both cameras. A little experimenting is going to be necessary, so be prepared.

 

[subcool]

In his photos, subcool is showing his Nikon coolpix 5400. I bought one on ebay for $50. I bought this camera for my son. It is more than capable of very good photos. In regards to the ring flash, subby had to modify that one to fit on the coolpix. There are currently no ring flash units for this point and shoot, or many other point and shoot cameras. I use the nikon SB21 on my D200. I bought it on ebay, too. What holds the ring flash on my D200 is a screw on adapter. It threads to the inside threads on the lens, and there is a spring loaded clamp that attaches to the ring flash, itself. I was able to find a similar type screw in adapter that fit inside the lens on the coolpix. The outside diameter of the adapter was not large enough to clamp on to the ring flash, so I epoxied another piece to it that was. Now my ring flash works on both cameras. A little experimenting is going to be necessary, so be prepared.

Dead on Mate and I obviously Don't shoot with this camera any longer I now use a Nikon d-50,d-80,d-300 and a assortment of Lens mainly the Sigma 105 MM Macro.
The Ring Flash I employ now is a Sigma EF-140

Way to pick up the modification I used a dremel

Sub

Sub

 

[Locked]

I didn't think this thread cld get any better.....and then sub stops in....

Awesome pics sub...and it was nice to see how simple it can be to get your own set up going....

 

[Qman]

Hey sub, I'm curious to what mode(s) you shoot in P,S,A,M to get your shots? If you don't mind giving us a tip

 

[nvthis]

Now my ring flash works on both cameras. A little experimenting is going to be necessary, so be prepared.

Umbra, bro, fire that bad boy up and get us some pics in here, ASAP!!

 

[umbra]

Hey Nvthis here are some photos with the coolpix, just to show you don't need an expensive camera

 

[nvthis]

Hey Nvthis here are some photos with the coolpix, just to show you don't need an expensive camera

Are these all with the ring flash Umbra?

 

[Qman]

you don't need an expensive camera

VERY true Umbra! the best baddest camera will not make you a better photographer ONLY you can do that

Nice pics btw...