What are YOU smoking today? (PICTURES)
- Thread starter longball
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longball
Well-known member
Mr. Nice Seeds - Early Queen
I think I will look a little deeper in to Macro Photography. Looks like there is a lot of potential for beautiful, unique, pictures. No two 'landscapes' could ever be the same. A little more Depth of Field and Tack Sharp Focus and I'm there!(Translation: Money and time) Not looking to get closer because then I only get like 6 trichomes in a photo. I'm looking for 'landscapes' with width, height, depth. Plenty of electron microscope pictures on the web that are close up. This is looking towards the middle left of above picture - you can spot the rusty, orange leaf easily. Using a crop-sensor camera and cropping the picture gave me a small amount of enlargement as opposed to magnification.
In photography, magnification refers to how large a subject appears on the camera sensor relative to its real-world size, while enlargement is the process of making an image larger after it's been captured. Enlarging the subject will not reveal detail that was not already in the photo, but shooting at a higher magnification will. Just thought that maybe secretly you wanted to know that.
Longball
I think I will look a little deeper in to Macro Photography. Looks like there is a lot of potential for beautiful, unique, pictures. No two 'landscapes' could ever be the same. A little more Depth of Field and Tack Sharp Focus and I'm there!(Translation: Money and time) Not looking to get closer because then I only get like 6 trichomes in a photo. I'm looking for 'landscapes' with width, height, depth. Plenty of electron microscope pictures on the web that are close up. This is looking towards the middle left of above picture - you can spot the rusty, orange leaf easily. Using a crop-sensor camera and cropping the picture gave me a small amount of enlargement as opposed to magnification.
In photography, magnification refers to how large a subject appears on the camera sensor relative to its real-world size, while enlargement is the process of making an image larger after it's been captured. Enlarging the subject will not reveal detail that was not already in the photo, but shooting at a higher magnification will. Just thought that maybe secretly you wanted to know that.
Longball
Skuncle Lenny
'23, '24, ‘25 COE Winner
Like your macro's LB.
So it's the electron microscope that gets those crazy up-close trichomes heads.
Looks like my iphone just won't do
So it's the electron microscope that gets those crazy up-close trichomes heads.
Looks like my iphone just won't do
longball
Well-known member
Thank you, Skuncle Lenny!Like your macro's LB.
Looks like my iphone just won't do
I get confused because some of your pictures are great and then the next 3 will be out of focus? WTF? All you using the iphone for all your pictures? I don't know what iphone you are using but the iphone 15 Pro Max with attachments, shooting in RAW mode, and understanding the software, that camera is a beast. Does Auto Exposure Bracketing or Photo stacking for you. It can go toe to toe with full frame pro cameras and be almost as good. Swifty has the 15 Pro(not the Pro Max) and he gets excellent trichome pictures.
The 15 Pro Max should be able to take pictures like this. Disclaimer: I do not own a smart phone and the phone I have does not take pictures.
You can tell this pot is old as many trichome heads have fallen off the stalks and so many of the heads left are red. Wasn't that way when harvested. It is great for pain relief and sleeping!
LB
Skuncle Lenny
'23, '24, ‘25 COE Winner
My just an iPhone 13 and limited. Macro's of Tri's are tough due to the lightest shaking. Even got a tripod, but haven't perfected. The 14 & 15 especially has a much better camera.
I'm also photogenically challenged. Ut oh, not's not PC to say nowadays
I'm also photogenically challenged. Ut oh, not's not PC to say nowadays
longball
Well-known member
Beautiful picture you've taken here @Skuncle Lenny! Is it the same iphone you take all your pictures with?
Taking good, in focus, pictures of macro's of Tri's is really, really hard. That is why you won't see a lot of 'in focus' pictures on any grow site. Pretty much only 'out of focus' Tri shots. Due to the immutable Laws of Physics, and Optics, no matter what type of camera equipment you have, this will never, ever, change. Feel better?
Due to the Laws mentioned above, this macro picture is at least 95%(?) not in focus? It is impossible to get this amount of depth in focus on a single macro shot. To get everything in this picture into focus you may need to take 300 pictures of different focal lengths and 'stack' them together. It would not be unreasonable to take between a few days and a few weeks to make a single picture. 99 per cent of people are casual photographers who just want to snap a single nice picture and be done with it. Not go through all this Happy Horseshit. If your macro shots do not come out perfectly in focus, don't feel bad about it, no one else's does either. This is why you don't see a lot of them. Picture's 95% out of focus don't go over very well generally. Would you want your wedding pictures 95% out of focus? You can get away with it in macro photography because what is in focus are things not often seen.
Longball
Taking good, in focus, pictures of macro's of Tri's is really, really hard. That is why you won't see a lot of 'in focus' pictures on any grow site. Pretty much only 'out of focus' Tri shots. Due to the immutable Laws of Physics, and Optics, no matter what type of camera equipment you have, this will never, ever, change. Feel better?
Due to the Laws mentioned above, this macro picture is at least 95%(?) not in focus? It is impossible to get this amount of depth in focus on a single macro shot. To get everything in this picture into focus you may need to take 300 pictures of different focal lengths and 'stack' them together. It would not be unreasonable to take between a few days and a few weeks to make a single picture. 99 per cent of people are casual photographers who just want to snap a single nice picture and be done with it. Not go through all this Happy Horseshit. If your macro shots do not come out perfectly in focus, don't feel bad about it, no one else's does either. This is why you don't see a lot of them. Picture's 95% out of focus don't go over very well generally. Would you want your wedding pictures 95% out of focus? You can get away with it in macro photography because what is in focus are things not often seen.
Longball
Skuncle Lenny
'23, '24, ‘25 COE Winner
Yeh, same camera.
Trying to use the tripod more for the macros.
I’m OK with i13 macro w/attachment quality to hit my target harvest time of Cloudy with a start of Meatballs…
Trying to use the tripod more for the macros.
I’m OK with i13 macro w/attachment quality to hit my target harvest time of Cloudy with a start of Meatballs…
longball
Well-known member
Yeh, same camera.
Trying to use the tripod more for the macros.
I’m OK with i13 macro w/attachment quality to hit my target harvest time of Cloudy with a start of Meatballs…
The iphone 13 has a self timer. Works great for macro. Have you tried doing that with the tripod for macro? However, just checking for ripeness there is absolutely no need for focus, just color.
I been taking pictures of trichomes for a different reason but that is another story for another day.
Skuncle Lenny
'23, '24, ‘25 COE Winner
Yeh, same camera.
Trying to use the tripod more for the macros.
Trying to use the tripod more for the macros.
longball
Well-known member
Trying to use the tripod more for the macros.
Yes, got it. What I am trying to find out is are you using the camera's self-timer and the 'burst'(continuous) mode? As the Outlaw Josey Wales said; 'it's nice to have an edge'. In macro photography, the self-timer and the 'burst mode' are your 'edge'. It does not matter if you have a 10 dollar camera or a 10,000 dollar camera, if your camera has a 'self-timer' and a 'burst' mode you can start taking crystal clear trichome images in about 10 minutes. I don't care who you are. Of course, the better the lens the clearer the picture but a 10 dollar camera is fine with a 'self-timer' and 'burst' mode.
While you don't need to know the Laws of Optics, understand one thing. It is impossible to get every trichome in focus, only the one's that the camera's focal length is set for will be in focus. Exactly how the human eye works. When you look at trichomes with your eye only a small section of trichomes are in focus. They are at a certain distance(focal length) from your eyes. If you move your eyes slightly to see other trichomes then the ones you were just looking at become out of focus. You cannot see every trichome on a bud in total focus at the exact same time. Only small sections. The camera works the same way. The only way to get everything in focus is to photo stack pictures. That is why photo stacking is so easy to spot. It is impossible for everything to be in focus at once with depth. Now that we know that we will never get every trichome in focus and why, let's start taking some great trichome photos.
This will work on any phone camera or DSLR camera with a self-timer and burst mode. For Skuncle's iphone 13 set the self-timer to 3 seconds. The iphone 13 has a self-timer option of between 3 and 10 seconds. I don't have a iphone or smart phone so that is on you to figure out. That's the part I mentioned about understand your software. The iphone 13 has a burst mode(continuous shooting) of up to 10 pictures a second. Set it to 10. When you press the shutter button and hold it down it will take 10 pictures with that one shutter press. Now, ditch the tripod. Most likely it is not in the razor sharp focus that macro photography needs. It is such a shallow depth of field that pressing the shutter release button will move the camera enough to make the trichome out of focus. Hand hold the camera and take the picture. When you press the shutter button the camera shutter release the camera will again move and you will have an out of focus picture. This is why almost every trichome picture that you see is out of focus.
But we have an 'edge'. By setting the self-timer to 3 seconds, when we press the shutter button and keep it held down nothing happens for 3 seconds. Now we have eliminated the camera movement of pressing the button.
Then it will start shooting in continuous mode. Try to hold the camera in perfect focus. Due to the razor thin depth of field in macro photography(Law of Optics) this will be close to impossible as the human body will always sway a little bit. We will use this 'edge'. You can only hold the camera 'close' to in focus. But because the human body sways a little and we are taking 10 pictures a second the odds are good that one of those pictures will be in focus just by accidental movement. If you throw enough shit at the wall, something will stick. So, with a little bit of luck and practice just about anyone can take good trichome pictures. Sometimes you won't get anything in 10 pictures and have to try it a couple times. As I said, macro photography is not for the causual photographer who does not want to do any work for a good picture. Here is a super-secret trick that will disappoint most. Magnification. The more magnification you use the less depth of field you have(Law of Optics) and you will most likely never get a in focus picture. For example you have a 90x gizmo that you can hook up to your camera or computer and take pictures. Sure, you will see that the trichome is amber but it won't be in focus. In my 6 years on this site, many people have mentioned their gizmo's but not a single in focus picture has ever been posted. Have you ever noticed that when looking at something through a microscope that it is usuallly pressed between two little plates of glass? That space between the glass is your depth of field at microscopic levels(Law of Optics). That is why with a 90x gizmo you will never get a photo with more than a slice of a single trichome in focus.
I use a normal 1:1 lens which means no magnification. The subject is seen as it's real size on the camera sensor, not 90x larger than it really is. I use a lens with a/the focal length that allows me to get as close to the subject as possible. In this case I am using a 105mm lens and the closest I can get is about 13 inches or 1/3 meter from my subject. I then crop the picture to the size/section I like. This enlarges a picture, not magnifies it. This is explained a few posts up. I may take a picture of a whole bud, maybe half a bud, it depends, then I crop it down to a section that in reality is maybe 1/3 or 1/4 the size of my smallest finger's fingernail. While the picture fills your whole screen in reality 3 or 4 of the pictures would fit on my little finger fingernail. Hopefully this post will help someone improve their trichome photography. Knowledge not shared is lost.
Here is an original picture. Camera was hand held, the self timer was set to 2 seconds and it was set to high speed indefinite continuous shooting mode. I took quite a few pictures. Most pictures were out of focus but when you get one in focus it is like bagging a Lamborghini!
The picture above has been cropped. No magnification was used. It is too hard to get magnification in focus. For this picture the lens was about 13 inches from the bud. You don't have to crawl up a bud's ass to get a 'close-up' picture. Cropping enlarges the trichomes enough that I can tell you that most are amber! These 'tricks' will work with all camera's with self-timers and burst mode. The better the camera and the better the lens, the better the pictures will be. There is nothing I can do about that. I don't make the rules, I just know what they are.
Longball
Skuncle Lenny
'23, '24, ‘25 COE Winner
Good tips LB.
I use a remote to take pics with tripod so it doesn’t shake/shake less.
Burst makes sense
So that’s how you know when someone’s photo stacking
I use a remote to take pics with tripod so it doesn’t shake/shake less.
Burst makes sense
So that’s how you know when someone’s photo stacking
longball
Well-known member
I use a remote to take pics with tripod so it doesn’t shake/shake less.
I didn't know if smart phones could use a remote shutter control as I don't have one, so I didn't mention it. I still use a self-timer and continuous shooting with a tripod but I am using a DSLR. Don't know how phones work but in a DSLR a mirror flips up causing a little camera shake so the first picture is never the best one. It's usually the 3rd or 4th one on a DSLR as only the shutter opens and closes after initial mirror flip. I have no idea how a phone camera works and no reason to learn lol I just bought a professional manual camera. No auto settings, no flash, having to read the manual for Every. Single. Thing. that I want to do. It a few months I should be taking great pictures. Also, still trying to figure out DSLR that I have been using! For macro, manual focus is usually a must otherwise you are relying on luck. Do smart phones have any manual focus? While it is sometimes better to be lucky than good, I would not base my game plan on just luck in anything in life! lol Often having an edge is better than hoping for luck. Hoping to get lucky is a bit like praying lol
Burst makes sense
Burst is a handy tool. Use it for an edge. I use it a lot at concerts as the musicians on stage refuse to stand still and pose for me. I don't use a tripod so I am moving a bit. They are always moving at least a little bit so I use a little burst. 3 shots a second for me. Sometimes it is good for children too as they hardly stay still for a second. Sometimes hearing 10 shutter clicks a second(or more) gets them to look directly at the camera!
So that’s how you know when someone’s photo stacking
Yes, the closest trichome and the farthest trichome cannot possibly be in focus at the same time. It's an impossibility(Law of Optics) In macro, if something close is in focus and something far is in focus, the picture has been stacked. But cheaters got to cheat and they know we are onto them so they will slip in some photos slightly out of focus. However, if you look closely, something too close and something too far will be in focus. That focus gives the picture depth. That depth gives the cheater away. However, photo stacking for personal use to hang a picture on a wall in your house is fucking awesome. Entering photo stacking in a contest is against the rules. Unless you are in a stated photo stacking contest, of course! lol
This musician, and the fans, would not stop and pose for me. I was able to catch him in burst mode.
Longball
longball
Well-known member
Tonight I'm smoking Star Dawg grown outdoors by me in the Hudson River Valley of Beautiful Upstate New York. JJ created Star Dawg when he was living in the Hudson River Valley of Beautiful Upstate New York. Yes, that Hudson River Valley of Beautiful Upstate New York! In the process of preserving the well-known strain Chemdawg, JJ accidentally created Tres Dawg. While working with that to preserve Chemdawg he accidentally created Star Dawg. This here was made with the 3rd male referred to 'the purple male'. Back then after JJ created a strain he would kill the male!!! That's why you run into different varieties of the Dawgs and the arguments begin, "That ain't Star Dawg!". The 3rd male would put out some purplish phenos and from time to time reddish. This was when JJ decided to started keeping his males.
In the process of preserving the well-known strain Chemdawg, JJ accidentally created Tres Dawg. While working with that to preserve Chemdawg he accidentally created Star Dawg. This here was made with the 3rd male referred to 'the purple male'. Back then after JJ created a strain he would kill the male!!! That's why you run into different varieties of the Dawgs and the arguments begin, "That ain't Star Dawg!". The 3rd male would put out some purplish phenos and from time to time reddish. This was when JJ decided to started keeping his males.
Skuncle Lenny
'23, '24, ‘25 COE Winner
Purple Star Dawg phenos
Damn good though lol