Any Pro photograghers here???

[IseektheTruth]

Im not a pro yet... But i love taking pics. Buds are one of the hardest things for me to take a good pic of! Plants are difficult to. always leave one area out of focus!! Anybody with any tricks or tips would be great.. i use a Canon EOS 30d

[MaryjaneAndHashley]

im no pro but just use macro shot (the flower button) and gets the job done i have a canon and it works very well

[azure]

theres always going to be an area out of focus unless you use a very small aperture eg. f22. it depends what lens youve got on your 30d as well, unless its a macro lens it wont get very close in most cases. to get most of the picture in focus set a small aperture and set the camera on a tripod [unless there is alot of light and the shutter is 1/250 or above.
MaryjaneAndHashley that only applies to digital compacts and bridge cameras mate IseektheTruths isnt one those

[psychocat]

Nice camera , invest in a macro lens and a tripod.

[MaryjaneAndHashley]

theres always going to be an area out of focus unless you use a very small aperture eg. f22. it depends what lens youve got on your 30d as well, unless its a macro lens it wont get very close in most cases. to get most of the picture in focus set a small aperture and set the camera on a tripod [unless there is alot of light and the shutter is 1/250 or above.
MaryjaneAndHashley that only applies to digital compacts and bridge cameras mate IseektheTruths isnt one those

lol i didnt know...
see how im a n00b?? :D

[azure]

lol i didnt know...
see how im a n00b?? :D

heh ;)

[IseektheTruth]

I have a macro lens ef28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, I cant get good trichomes even on the stickiest buds... I'm just wondering the numbers cause there is so many lenses with very similar numbers.

[jamstigator]

Obviously the 28mm-135mm is the focal length range of the lens. A 50mm is the base, anything lower than that (shorter) is 'wide angle' and anything higher than that (longer) is 'telephoto'. Macro lenses are those which let you get very close to an object and still focus normally. The 3.5-5.6 is the aperture range of the lens, with the lower number being the lens wide open (allowing the most light in) and the focal length set low (as wide angle as it goes) and the higher number being the lens wide open at its maximum telephoto range (as telephoto as it goes).

What they call 'fast lenses' are those that can allow the most light in. For example, a 50mm f1.2 lens is much faster than the lens you have there which, at best, opens up to f3.5, and probably isn't even that good (fast, adept at getting light down the lens) at 50mm. On the other hand, your lens is more flexible because you have a range of focal lengths. Very fast lenses cost extraordinary amounts of money, thousands of dollars for one lens in some cases.

No, I'm not a pro photographer, just someone who's enjoyed it as a hobby for 25 years or so. ;)

[SpiritLevel]

Some advice here from Sig (http://boards.cannabis.com/showthread.php?t=71035)
Are There Any Photographers Here??? (http://boards.cannabis.com/showthread.php?t=74649)

[SpiritLevel]

I'm soon to experiment with bud photography. I bought a canon powershot A510 last july (05) but I only read the manual in the past few days. To take crystal clear close-ups I fink all settings must go to manual. I took that flower pic yesterday or the day before and was suprised at the difference manually configuring your settings makes in comparrison to Auto functions. I tried some night-time sky photography lastnight while toking a J after midnight (so no flash was used). I took Sig (http://boards.cannabis.com/member.php?u=36423)s advice from another thread (http://boards.cannabis.com/showthread.php?t=71035) and set my shutter speed to 15 second and got the other pic. I've now started photographing the same random objects lots of times to see how changing a setting affects the outcome, a bit like growing pukka bud really.

[psychocat]

I like your thinking man, experiment with manual and it opens up a whole new world, I started years ago (1979) with an old Pentax SLR and a couple of cheap lenses and auto settings were for rocketships :D

This could be helpfull to you guys starting out

http://www.photographytips.com/

[bobmarleyjr.]

Wow for someone like me those pix are really nice. I have a camera but it's on my my phone. :D

[SpiritLevel]

I've tried experimenting taking pics in the old garden using manual. A tripod Is a must for close-ups and working with slow shutter speeds. I just managed to hold the camera steady enough to catch my closest (most zoomed in) bud pic to date here (http://boards.cannabis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=86584&d=1157670156) i'm impressed but not satisfied. Still need a lot of practice I think, and I'm not keen on the grainy textures.. Might go back to film and darkroom ops. Bookmarked the link! Sorted psychocat (http://boards.cannabis.com/member.php?u=2336) (http://boards.cannabis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=86584&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1157670156)

[Big Blunt Boy]

Try a photography forum

[Anathema2121]

I'm no pro either, and my own digital camera got stolen, but I used to take the hell out of pictures. Every so often I get to borrow someone else's camera, and I take pretty decent pictures for having absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Not trying to jack your thread, but here are a few of my favorite pics I've taken recently :D

[IseektheTruth]

I dont mind you posting on this thread!?!?! i thought that is why we were all here :) im getting some new pics up here today just give me some time to wake up.

[clovisman]

I actually take wild flower photos for a living, you do want to use a tripod , and a small aperature, which is actually the biggest number on your lens, this gives you most depth of field that is the area that will be in focus, try to make sure your camera is parralell to your subject, another key element is to shoot in soft light, i take my photos in early morning the soft light brings out more detail

[duckfool]

Im quite into photography myself. I used to have a Canon D30 (not a 30D) a few years back, with a 70-200f4 L and a 50 1.8.

Things were going prety good.. i got a few shots in magazines.. almost bought a 1D.. but then i had a bit of a financial crunch and had to sell it all.. two years later, and im getting back into things. i'v picked up a 17-40 f4L and am looking for a 20 or 30D right now.

here's my old site. I appologize for the typos in advance. http://www.mikelaphotography.com

[SpiritLevel]

Anathema2121 (http://boards.cannabis.com/member.php?u=50463) great pics..clovisman (http://boards.cannabis.com/member.php?u=54188) great advice!

[SpiritLevel]

Some recent play-shots (http://boards.cannabis.com/showpost.php?p=967441&postcount=10)

[pu ekot]

It's all about DOF when taking pictures of small things. Slower aperature results in a larger depth of field, while a faster aperature means a smaller one. Get a tripod and shoot as slow as you can(aperature-wise), that should help you

[IseektheTruth]

Thanks for all the great advise. I need to get a tripod. Here are a few pics, im getting alittle better

[pu ekot]

If you're daring and want some crazy macro shots, take your lens off, set it to the shortest focal length (ie mine goes to 28mm), put the end of the lens up to the body of the camera and shoot it in full manual mode. You can control the aperature (carefully) by pushing a little knob on the rear end of the lens.
Note that this makes a HUGE impact on the depth of field, the picture shown here was taken at f/3.3, and just a tiny sliver of the quarter is properly focussed. This shorter the focal length the higher the magnification, heres a pic of a quarter ($0.25)

[azure]

^ yea, if youre gonna do that you can get a lens reverser ring for some cameras which holds it in place for you.

[SpiritLevel]

IseektheTruth (http://boards.cannabis.com/member.php?u=55813) nice bud pic
pu ekot (http://boards.cannabis.com/member.php?u=56273) neat trick, very detailed

GREAT TIPS pholks, I wish this was my thread lol

[Fengzi]

Photgraphy has been a serious hobby of mine for over 20 years. It started with a class in high school, then a few semesters in college, and so forth and so on. My favorite was always shooting black and whie and then developing myself. I'd love to have my own darkroom someday but finding a place for it is the hard part.

Now I shoot with either a Nikon N70 or a Nikon D100, usually the D100 since digital is so convenient. A while back I invested in some studio style flash units, mainly for taking pictures of my family but I've found they can be a lot of fun for other stuff as well since you can play around with different lighting techniques.

One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is using a close up lens for macro shots. By this I mean the filter type that you screw on to your existing lens. It's a cheap ($25-$50+) solution that works pretty well. The only problem is that it seriously reduces your depth of field.

Here's one of my favorite bud shots. For this pic I used the D100 with a 100-300 zoom( at 300) combined a x5 close up lens, tripod, 1/60, F22. For lighting I used an off camera flash unit set off to the side for kind of a dark side of the moon effect.

[SpiritLevel]

I have a digital cam and it isn't SLR, any other tricks?

[IseektheTruth]

Wow that was some bud shot! great all around focus!!!!!!!!!!!! very hard for me to do! Here is a close of the same bud with two different focus points. I used a spiral note book,stuck the stem in one of the spiral holes made it easier to photograph.

[Fengzi]

I used a spiral note book,stuck the stem in one of the spiral holes made it easier to photograph.

Great idea, I've also played around with a bunch of different ways to get the buds to "pose" the way I want them to. I've found that my daughter's playdough is very useful. What I've found works best is this little piece of stiff, but very thin, wire that I've glued down to a small board. I can stick the wire up into the bud to hold it and because the wire is bendable I can move it around as much as I want. My goal is to get the side of the bud with the largest surface area as parallel as possible to the lens. Then, although I prefer t use it as little as possible, I can use photoshop to take the wire out of the shot.

I personally like your 2nd bud shot better than the first. I think having the foreground out of fucus is a bit distracting, unless there's a specific reason for it. Good detail in the in focus areas of both though.

[Fengzi]

I have a digital cam and it isn't SLR, any other tricks?

A lot will depend on your camera. A few things I can think of though:

- be aware of the closest focus distance for your camera. Each camera, or lens, has a minimum distance that they must be from the subject in order to get a good sharp focus. I see a lot of out of focus pictures on this board and my guess is that people are getting right up to the subject (buds) in order to fill the frame without realizing that they'll never be in focus that way. Stay back a bit, get good focus, and then crop on the computer if necessary.

-As I think someone else already mentioned, you want your subject and your lens to be on parallel planes. So, for example, you have a bud lying on the table, you'll want to get up on a chair or something so you are looking straight down on it. Or, like Iseekthetruth and I have done, find a way to get the bud to stand up straight.

-Good exposure is key so be aware of your cameras metering abilities and what can thow it off. Many cameras want to "see" grey. So, if you have something on a white back ground the camera will want to turn it grey and your picture will be underexposed, too dark. If it's on a black background it's likely to be overexposed, too light.

-pick up an inexpensive book on photography, there'll be tons of other useful tips

[clovisman]

if you need a close focusing lens the cheapest way is to get a diopter- looks like a screw on filter- it will allow you to take macro shots with practically any lens-if you reverse a lens as suggested you will be almost touching your subject with the glass of your lens and depth of field is nonexistent-see how little of the coin is sharp- again a tripod is best- if you do not have one hold your camera with your elbows tight against chest and create a tripod with your body

[pu ekot]

if you need a close focusing lens the cheapest way is to get a diopter- looks like a screw on filter- it will allow you to take macro shots with practically any lens-if you reverse a lens as suggested you will be almost touching your subject with the glass of your lens and depth of field is nonexistent-see how little of the coin is sharp- again a tripod is best- if you do not have one hold your camera with your elbows tight against chest and create a tripod with your body


Actually, you're wrong, you can get plenty of DOF with a reversed lens, you just need to stop down your lens as much as possible. I like the very narrow DOF on that picture, but that's with my lens at f/3.3, with my lens at f/22, almost the entire coin is focussed perfectly.

[clovisman]

pu ekok -no you are wrong i have a degree in photography and teach photography at 2 universities- a reversed lens is the last alternative to doing macro work-stop your lens all the way down and measure your depth of field it will be shallow at its best- any amature would have a very difficult time using a revesed lens- subject matter way to close to lens for most folk-

[IseektheTruth]

am i the only person that takes pics of almost all their new buds? everytime i get new bud,it usually(99 out 100) is worth taking a pic of. Even if you dont like photography, i would do it just as a visual record of nugs youve smoked. well here is some new bud..... they werent the best looking a little on the dry side so i rolled up a fat ass joint, almost didnt want to get out of my car when i was done toking!:rasta: :pimp: :smokin: :stoned:

[SpiritLevel]

Very nice pic

[pu ekot]

pu ekok -no you are wrong i have a degree in photography and teach photography at 2 universities- a reversed lens is the last alternative to doing macro work-stop your lens all the way down and measure your depth of field it will be shallow at its best- any amature would have a very difficult time using a revesed lens- subject matter way to close to lens for most folk-



Dear god, you are a photography professor?

By the way, why didn't you say that the first time?

Well here are two shots of a cancer stick, one at f/3.3, one at f/22.

Try to tell me the DOF of the f/22 shot is shallow...

(P.S. I know the f/3.3 shot is not focussed at all, I was rushed. We already know f/3.3 makes a very shallow DOF, as seenin coin pic)

[SpiritLevel]

a few pics... http://boards.cannabis.com/showpost.php?p=983059&postcount=18

[pu ekot]

Man, I wish I could grow my own :(

[SpiritLevel]

Can't you get a licence for a medical grow? You're in Canada right?

[Pshamous]

dude you need to not take pics of your weed you need to smoke it haha
jk you can take pics if you want.