Issue #56 - Sunday, May 12, 2013 Dear Fellow Grower, In today's issue...
- You'll learn 10 easy tricks so you can take amazing pictures of your plants that do them justice!
- Read how one of our readers got ripped off! Don't let this happen to you! We'll show you how to protect yourself.
- View some multi-color trophy pics from one of our readers.
- Scroll down to the bottom of today's newsletter for a picture of the best dog ever!
Happy Growing!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"You don't take a photograph, you make it."
― Ansel Adams
Learn How to Take Pictures Of Your Plants! by Nebula Haze |
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I love taking pictures of my plants.
Yet sometimes the pictures don't turn out the way I want. I've learned many tricks over the years, and even though I use a 7-year-old point-and-shoot digital camera, I'm still able to take some pretty great plant pics. I was sure that I already knew every trick to using it.
A few days ago, I was taking pictures of some plants under a 600W HPS light, and my pictures were coming out ultra-yellow. I'm sure you've seen pics like this before...
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I was in the process of changing the bulb to a Metal Halide, which is more friendly to cameras, so I could take some decent pictures of the plants.Fellow grower Sirius saw me halfway through the process and stopped me.Sirius asked me, "You don't have to switch the bulb if you don't want to. Did you know you can take pictures under the HPS light if you just change a camera setting?" I had no idea.
All I had to do was activate the "Tungsten" setting on my camera. It was in the menu under "Light Levels," but I'd somehow never noticed it before.Apparently this setting or mode is available on nearly all digital cameras if you look under the various settings, including click-and-shoot models, iPhones and many other phone cameras. If it doesn't say "Tungsten," then look for a "Flourescent Lighting" setting.Look at the difference in color when I activated the Tungsten setting!
One thing I've really learned from growing marijuana is that sometimes it's the little things we miss that can make a huge difference in our workload, save us time, or give us effortlessly better results.Today, I would like to share some of the little things that have made a big difference to me as far as taking pictures since I started growing. These tips and techniques will serve you well if you enjoy taking plant pictures, and I believe this info should be known by all growers!
10 Tips, Tricks & Tactics For Taking Awesome Pictures Of Your Plants
(in no particular order) 1.) Use the "Macro" Setting For Ultra-Close Pics
Does your camera have the "Macro" focus setting or mode?
A flower is the universal symbol/icon for macro mode. It can appear in a couple different places on your camera, as demonstrated by the picture below.
2.) No Macro Mode? Learn How To Mod Your iPhone To Take Awesome Closeup Pictures (Using the Lens From a Cheap Laser Pointer)Learn how you can take apart a cheap laser pointer and use the lense inside to take ultra-close pictures of your plants (macro pictures).This technique can be used with your iPhone, as well as most Android, Blackberry, and other mobile phones with a built-in camera.Learn how:
http://imgur.com/a/iMi6Z3.) Other Options For Clear Close-Up Pictures- Take a picture using a digital microscope (this kind of microscope connected directly to your computer and shows you the images on your screen, allowing you to take screenshots or video). I personally find these microscopes a pain to use...
- Take a picture of plant through a jeweler's loupe or other magnifier.
- Sometimes you can attach a magnifier directly to your camera or phone camera with a rubber band.
For closeup pictures, you always get the best results with bright, even lighting. And remember, you need to be able to take closeup pictures in order to pick the perfect harvest time to harvest.Learn how to pick the perfect harvest time with your close-up pics:http://growweedeasy.com/how-do-i-know-when-to-harvest-marijuana
4.) Clear The Background
Take a second to clean your grow room and the area around the plant. You will dramatically increase the quality of your photos when it's just the plant in the photo. Taking 5 minutes to pick up any stray items or leaves will make a huge difference in your final result.Try to take pictures of plants against a plain background whenever possible. A white wall works great, but any plain-colored background will help people see your plant in full effect If you want stellar pictures, it's always worth the 10 minutes to clean the area and think about presenting a clear picture of only what you want to show. What am I even supposed to be looking at here?
(pic from my first grow... I guess I was just excited there were live plants in my closet :)
5.) Keep Camera As Still As PossibleIf you can rest your camera on something, it will help your camera be able to focus in for those ultra-clear, gorgeous pics. A tripod, or anything that's not moving, can be used. Try to rest your camera on something the next time you're taking pictures, and see what a huge difference it makes!6.) Try Using a Flash When Taking Pics of Your Buds
Many times (though not always), you'll get the most impressive pictures of your buds and colas when you use a flash.If everything seems too bright from the flash, try muting the flash with white paper. Just tape the paper over the flash. This can help disperse the light from the flash, so you get more realistic pictures.If you have the kind of flash that attaches to a DSLR camera, here's a good way to mute the flash: Fold an index card in half, then stick it above the flash lens so the card is perpendicular to the flash. Then point the face of the index card towards what you're taking a picture of. This causes a bounce flash which can produce stellar results. It looks like this.
7.) Take Pics From a Few Different AnglesIt's amazing how different pictures can look if you take pics from a few different angles.8.) Everything is Still Blurry? Add More Bright, Even LightIf you're trying to take pictures of something very close to the camera (like a close-up shot), then refer to tips 1-3 for non-blurry pics.Yet if you've followed alll the tips so far, including keeping your camera ultra-still, and pictures are still coming out blurry, then this tip is for you.
Blurry pics like this are often the result of poor lighting. Make sure the entire area is bathed in light. Keep camera as still as possible. Idea: Get a few extra bright "daylight" colored CFLs for taking pictures.9.) Use "Tungsten" Setting Under HPS Grow LightsThis is the technique I mentioned in the intro to today's article. Here's the full tutorial:http://growweedeasy.com/take-pictures-under-hps10.) Whites Appear Gray or Yellow? Colors Faded? Fix "Levels"This is especially common with camera phone pictures, and pictures from cheap or old cameras.
However, this still happens with the best cameras when the lighting levels aren't right, or when the color of the light isn't white.Luckily, you can fix this by adjusting the "levels" after the fact in a picture editing program like Photoshop.So let's continue with the same picture we fixed by changing the Tungsten level on the camera. First I changed the setting on the camera to take a better picture.Now I'm going to fix the levels in Photoshop under Images > Adjustments > Levels
by using their 3 "dropper" tools on the left side of the "Levels" screen. You try to match the black dropper to black, gray to gray, and white to white. It doesn't fix every picture, but will improve many. Play around to find out which one will work best for your picture...This is the picture of my plants with the "Tungsten" setting on, but before I adjust the levels in Photoshop.
Notice the yellowish cast to the pictures is gone.
Bonus Tip: Play With These Settings On Your CameraSometimes playing with these settings on your phone will make a huge difference:- Image Size
- Mode
- White Balance
- Exposure
- Zoom
Who Runs This Newsletter?
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Nebula Haze:Marijuana has literally saved my life, and I'm dedicated to showing you how easy it can be to grow.
I have made it my mission to build growing resources to help both new and advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money.
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Sirius Fourside:Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium(deep water culture, bubbleponics). "Growing cannabis is a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, perlite, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
Don't Let This Happen To You! |
I received this slightly alarming email and I had to share. Don't let this happen to you!
"This is supposed to be Auto Bubble. 4 weeks in from seed. What is the deal? What is this plant"
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This is NOT a marijuana plant! Unfortunately this reader got ripped off :(Seeing a case like this is a huge reminder why it's so important to buy your seeds from a trusted seed source. View GrowWeedEasy.com's list of trusted seed vendors
here: http://growweedeasy.com/seeds
Our list contains seed banks who have proven themselves over the years with high quality seeds, discrete shipping, and amazing service.Order Seeds Today!http://growweedeasy.com/seeds
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From the grower: "The setup consists of three grow rooms, one veg room, and one curing room. Strains pictured are God's Gift, Fire Alien Urkle, and Raskal's OG. (10.9% CBD!!) We currently run and have run a variety of others including Kraken, Fruity Pebble OG, White Dawg, White Fire, Tre Dawg, Star Dawg, and Ewok."
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From the grower: "There are many more photos to be found on our Instagram page, as well as set up and growing tips. Check it out at @firebros206" Remember, sharing is caring!
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