Taking High Quality Photos of Cannabis With a smartphone or lower basic DSLR camera
For newly founded cannabis brands it can be difficult capturing high quality photos without a big production budget. So how can smaller marijuana brands compete with more well established companies?
This guide breaks down simple and cost effective ways for taking high quality photos with any smartphone or basic DSLR.
No matter what camera equipment you’re using, taking professional level photography in 2020 is easier than ever. Utilizing high quality photos of products, accompanied with meaningful information can significantly improve any brands reputation online.
Taking Photos With Strong Composition
Understanding composition is key to capturing high quality photos. If you’re struggling with ideas on how to capture live plants, products or landscapes, don’t be afraid to gather inspiration from social media. The three biggest composition techniques to understand are formal balance, depth of field and the rule of thirds.
Formal Balance
Also called symmetrical balance, is a concept of aesthetic composition involving equal weight and importance on both sides of a composition. Below are some examples of photos that have strong formal balance.
Depth of Field
Depth of field is the distance between the closest and farthest objects in a photo that appears acceptably sharp. Depending on your equipment, you may be able to adjust focus options on your smartphone camera or manipulate the aperture (commonly known as an F-stop) and focus ring on your DSLR camera.
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is a “rule of thumb” or a guideline that proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.
Smartphone Cameras
Smartphone cameras have come along way in the last five years, and most smartphones today have the ability to capture photos that compete with photos captured on lower end DSLR’s. Remember a lot of these cameras have focus options by just tapping on the subject within your frame.
With most smartphones have the ability to utilize third-party apps that will give you more ISO, shutter speed and aperture options. If you have a new smartphone, be mindful of keeping the lens covered by some sort of protective case to reduce scratches.
DSLR Settings
If you have access to a DSLR camera these few tips will significantly increase the quality of your photos. If your shooting live plants inside a grow with HPS (High Pressured Sodium) Light, adjusting your white balance to the “Tungsten Light” setting will get rid of that yellow tint the sensor is recording. Another more advanced option is to set a custom white balance in your cameras manual settings. This will generate the most accurate temperature in variable conditions, including HPS Light.
Consistent Product Shots
When shooting cured flower or products it helps to use a tripod and intervalometer to reduce camera shake. Having a consistent light source and product position will increase the quality of your photos.
Maintaining a consistent presence on social media is crucial to any business in today’s market, especially within the marijuana industry. Cannabis in all forms is very photogenic and is easy to capture if you follow these easy steps.
