Marketing is the key to any successful business. In advertising, there is no medium with as much power as visual arts. Photography is a great way to market your business and shine a light on your products.
Cannabis is one of the most beautiful plants out there, so there’s a ton of opportunities to get fantastic shots. Different sorts and strains make photographing cannabis an enjoyable activity. Here’s a quick guide explaining what you can use cannabis photography for, how to do it properly, and what items you will need to get started.
What Can You Use Cannabis Photography For?
Social Media
Social media is crucial for any cannabis business. There’s no easier way to interact with customers. Photography and social media go hand in hand. Just take a look at the plethora of Instagram accounts dedicated to sharing pictures of the finest cannabis.
The digital world is full of communities dedicated to marijuana – sharing pictures of the products you have on hand is a great way to expand your business and drive new traffic towards it.
Tracking Cultivation Stages and Health
Cannabis photography also has many practical applications. You can use photography to keep track of the growth and health of your plants. If you’re just starting out, having a visual reference will help you determine when your plant enters the vegetative stage, and when it enters the flowering stage.
Keeping a grow journal means that you now have a personal database. Replicating success with cannabis isn’t easy – but if you photograph and journal the cases when things go the right way, you’ll increase the odds of having more good harvests.
Once you have a journal, you can look back and see what environmental conditions, strains, feeding schedules, and nutrient recipes give you the best results. As an added bonus, you will have a ton of interesting pictures documenting the various growth stages of your plants that you can share online.
Digital and Print Art
Cannabis photography is suitable for use in a variety of mediums. A good photograph can be retouched and edited into a stunning work of art. Sharing the results of your hard work is sure to entice the attention of many new customers.
Cannabis photography can also be used for more conventional types of art, such as prints or posters. Platforms like Etsy are full of cannabis art – take advantage of another avenue to share your products with the world.
Things to Consider When Photographing Cannabis
Living Plants
Living plants provide more variety when it comes to the subject matter. Different grow stages, sizes, and strains mean that you won’t lack for inspiration. Shooting living plants does come with a drawback – they are in areas where you usually don’t have a lot of control over lighting. In these cases, editing and retouching are of the utmost importance.
When photographing cannabis outdoors, you can’t change the background or affect the lighting in a significant way. The “golden hours” for taking outdoor shots are considered to be an hour before sunrise and an hour before sunset. Plan accordingly.
If the plants you’re photographing are indoors, chances are they are placed near LED light bulbs. The yellow or purple light of these light bulbs means that you must adjust your in-camera white balancing.
You will have limited access to additional light sources. As for hardware, it all depends on how spacious the indoor grow operation is. Bear all of these factors in mind when preparing for a photo shoot.
Cured Flower
When photographing cured flower, you have complete control over all the factors that make a great photograph. Photographing cured product can be done in a studio, a lightbox, or your location of choice. You can also pick your background and choose to use props, as well as control the amount of light and the direction it comes from.
Photographing cured flower is easier, and allows for more options. You have total freedom when it comes to choosing angle and distance. A good rule of thumb to follow is that you should treat photographing cured flower as if it were product photography.
Gear for Advanced Cannabis Photos
Macro Lens
Macro photography allows you to take close, detailed shots of your cannabis. Invest in a macro lens. This way, you can capture focus better and get crisp shots of small details, such as the surface texture of your plants or its trichomes. There is no better piece of gear for getting close up shots full of vivid details.
DSLR Camera
DSLR cameras are a must-have for cannabis photographers. DSLR cameras take high-resolution pictures and are equipped with a wide variety of settings, such as shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. DSLR cameras are also customizable, allowing you to tailor your hardware to the task at hand.
Tripod
In order to get the camera stability you need for quality close up shots, you should use a tripod. DSLR cameras may have image-stabilizing lenses, but using a tripod ensures that you will get a completely blur-free, clear photograph. Tripods are very adjustable and will allow you to get a crisp shot from any angle. Invest in a tripod – you won’t have to worry about blurriness and tilted frames ever again.
Quick Tips
Low ISO
A general rule in photography is to always keep ISO as low as possible. With your DSLR camera, only increase ISO if you absolutely have to do so. Increasing ISO adds graininess and noise to your photograph.
Use Low Shutter Speeds with Tripod Shots
When you stabilize a camera with a tripod, you can use a low shutter speed to allow more light into the lens. This creates a brighter, more colorful image. Using a low shutter speed is a great way to make the most out of the interesting little details that cannabis is full of.
For Macro, Increase Four F-stop
Changing aperture settings can be tough to master. Adjust aperture to the focal distance of your subject. Close up images work better with a big, open F-stop. This guarantees less blur and more depth and detail in the final image.
