10 Photography Tips To Take Better Nug Shots

Article written by Trichome Chaser

Originally a landscape, nature, and live event photographer, I began taking photos of cannabis at the same time that I returned to growing after a 15-year hiatus. Initially, I just wanted to document the strains I’d grown and be able to go back and see how I progressed. It’s now been six years of photographing cannabis flowers, and while I still have some way to go before I am happy with my results, I’ve reached a point where I feel I can help others improve their nug shots.

In this article, we’ll look at 10 tips to improve your nug photography immediately. Some will be completely free, while others may require some additional equipment.

1. Never Neglect Lighting

Regardless of what you photograph, lighting is one of the most, if not the most important, aspects of any photo. Texture and composition are both important, but what good is either if one cannot see the subject? Thankfully, you don’t need to spend a fortune to get started with lighting. Sure, there’s the option for studio lighting, but it’s expensive and not required until you feel you’ve mastered the basics.

Buying some cheap Magneto portable lights (the ones that save us from being in the dark during load shedding) can be an affordable way to provide your bud with good lighting during your shoots. These sorts of lights do come with challenges as they are very direct and lack diffusion, which helps light spread out over an area more naturally. The result is typically harsh shadows, but by using multiple lights around your subjects, you can reduce these harsh shadows. A light to the center-left may cause harsh shadows to fall on the right, but if you add another light to the center-right, you can help compensate for that.

As your photography evolves, you can start looking at video studio lights for consistent lighting or go for a high-intensity strobe light. On-camera flashes aren’t ideal unless defused; even then, they only offer a single direction of light.

2. Use The Correct Lens

While phones can grab some decent videos of flowers, they aren’t great for still photos, especially if you want to turn your images into prints. Using a DSLR or Mirrorless camera is the best option, and they don’t need to be the top of the line, but they let you change the lenses and thus control your photography better. So, what lenses are the right for full flower pics and nug macro photography?

Here are some of the most popular lenses for DSLR cameras

Canon 100mm F2.8 (Canon Mount)

If you’re using a Canon DSLR, the 100mm F2.8 macro is an outstanding lens that offers unrivaled versatility. It can be used for comprehensive shots that include the full cola or used close-ups for macro photography. This is a lens that can do it all.

Canon MPE-65 (Canon Mount)

The Canon MPE-65 is a popular choice for a super macro, which will get you closer to the subject than the Canon 100mm 2.8 macro. These specialist-type lenses are more challenging and are typically considered only for close-up trichome shots.

Laowa 2.5-5x (Canon, Nikon & Sony Mounts)

Similar to the MPE-65 but slightly more affordable, the Laowa 2.5-5mm is a specialist lens for only the most demanding close-ups. Focus stacking is essential for both the MPE-65 and Laowa.

NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED (Nikon Mount)

The equivalent of Canon’s 100mm 2.8 is the NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED; it offers versatility with the ability to shoot both close and more distant subjects and can be used for either nug shots or plant shots.

Sigma 105mm f2.8 DE Macro (Canon, Nikon & Sony Mounts)

The Sigma 105mm macro lens is another versatile lens that can be used for a multitude of cannabis photos. It is similar to the Nikkor 105mm and Canon 100mm but is also available as a Sony mount.

3. Getting More In Focus

A common challenge budding nug photographers have is getting their flowers entirely in focus. Phones take decent pictures these days, but they don’t usually allow you to adjust the aperture. The size of the aperture is what defines how much depth remains in focus. Low F-stops (another term for aperture) of between 1.4 and 8 results in a narrow depth of field, while higher F-stops allow more of your image to remain in focus when shooting a single shot.

It is vital to understand that when increasing the aperture of your lens, you’re also reducing the amount of light that comes into the camera. You can compensate for the decrease in light through two primary methods: the first is to increase the ISO (excessively raising ISO can lead to noise), and the second is to shoot with a slower shutter speed (if you go below 1/80 second shutter speed a tripod is necessary).

So, there is a trade-off to be made, and the whole essence of photography is learning to balance those trade-offs. With some practice, you’ll be able to find what works for you and your lighting situation.

4. No Rail? No problem!

Another popular method for macro photographers to achieve a broader depth of field is to stack multiple images with different focal points together to create a comprehensive image. This is the go-to method for professional nug photographers, and many will use a macro rail to achieve this. A macro rail lets you move the camera forward and from side to side in small increments. For instance, you’ll focus on the front of the nug, then take a shot, move the rail a bit forward, take another shot, and repeat, ensuring that you cover the entirety of the subject in focus. Stacks can range from just a few images merged together to hundreds or even thousands of images that result in 1 single final shot.

Not looking to fork out extra money on a macro rail? No problem! You can achieve the same results by using the focus ring on your lens to adjust the focus. So, let’s say you decide to start at the front of the nug. Take a shot with the front-most portion of the nug in focus, then adjust your focus ring (making sure not to move the lens) so that the next area of the nug is in focus and repeat the step. Keep taking shots until you have an image that has every part of the nug in focus (again, the lens mustn’t move; if it does, you have to start from scratch).

Take the collection of images and stack them in the stacking software of your choice. The lower your F-stop, the more images you’re going to need to take in your stack. It’s not uncommon for some artifacts to appear when stacking; these will need to be removed in post.

5. Fresh Flower is The Best Flower

You may feel the urge to grab a jar of flower and take a shot, but keep in mind that the results will be inferior to fresh flower. We often underestimate how easily trichomes become damaged and even just a few weeks in a jar is visible when taking photos. In addition, as the moisture dries out, the trichome stalks tend to become warped and unphotogenic. Additionally, the colours begin to fade during the dry; this is especially true for OG varieties. The best time to grab your photos is just before harvest for full plant or flower pictures and then either before or prior to the drying process. If you’re careful with your trichomes during the dry, you can still get great images after the process.

6. Be Creative and Find Your Style!

The cannabis photography space is a strange one, and you’ll see a few popular nug photographers’ styles taken and repurposed by another artist. Inspiration is great, but when one’s creating a carbon copy of an artist’s style, where is the creativity? To become a great cannabis photographer, you’ll have to find your style, a creative way to make your images unique and different from anyone else. Pete Gibby popularized creative digital landscapes that incorporate nugs into the scenery for instance, but that style is now prevalent amongst dozens of other cannabis photographers. Again, finding your own style is ultimately more creative than copying others.

7. Using the Right Equipment

I’ll occasionally be approached for photography advice from those shooting with cellphones, and while phone cameras have come a long way, they aren’t an ideal choice. Phones have a notoriously low depth of field, and creating stacks is much more difficult than with traditional gear. Here’s the equipment I’d suggest you have available at your disposal.

Beginners

• Any DSLR or Mirrorless camera
• A suitable macro lens or a traditional lens in the range of about 30mm to 100mm is combined with a reversing ring or macro extension tubes
• Any portable light sources. An affordable option is magneto lights, which can be defused
• A backdrop of your choosing
• Free stacking and post-processing software

More Advanced Photographer Setups

• Mirrorless or DSLR camera, preferably a full-frame sensor for improved macro quality
• Two or three studio lights, either video lights or strobes
• Macro rail
• Remove shutter trigger
• Various backdrops for different shoots
• Good quality macro lens
• Helicon Focus (or stacking app of your choice)
• Photoshop/Lightroom for post-production work

8. The Power of Post-Processing

I come from an age where Photoshop was a dirty work associated with socially unacceptable photo manipulation. Twenty years later, photoshop has become a staple in nearly every digital photographer’s inventory. From small refinements to white balance and shadow adjustments through to full digital art, Photoshop is frequently used by cannabis photographers.

No matter how good the scene you’re shooting is, it’s easy to misjudge your white balance or just capture too much light in an image where a certain area needs additional exposure. Post-processing allows you to get the image to look more like what you had in mind. It can also be used to remove areas of the image, where for instance, you may have had an object such as a needle holding up your nug.

Less is more with post-processing and I personally use it to balance my colours better, while also using it to improve backdrops and remove the objects holding the bud.

9. The Importance Of a Good Backdrop

The backdrop may not seem important, but ensuring a well-thought-out background can go a long way in producing a quality image. For instance, a common problem is lighting the background while lighting the flower. Instead of creating a uniform background from which the flower stands out, excessive light or different tones in the backdrop can cause a lack of contrast and subpar image quality. Even if you’re simply shooting on a black backdrop, you may need to use post-processing to isolate and pull down the shadows to better define your image. You can be creative here, though – I’ve even used spinning fans with low shutter speeds to create unique backdrops.

10. Getting Images to Pop!

Finally, one of the most challenging, yet important aspects of cannabis photography is creating an image where your subject pops and stands out from its surroundings. This comes down primarily to lighting. A single source of light fired directly onto the flower will lack depth and trichomes will appear blown out from excessive reflections. Additionally, as much as I prefer green weed over purple types, it is a lot easier to get a darker flower to pop, primarily because the trichomes contrast the flower material, adding depth.

To get your images to pop focus on the following things:

• Using different lights from different angles and see what works.
• Placing the subject against a contrasting backdrop
• Tastefully adding saturation (keep it natural!)
• Ensuring your stacks have sufficient image coverage, which results in a sharper image

Conclusion

When discussing the technicalities of cannabis photography, one could go on infinitely, as photography is much like growing – you’re always learning new things. The best thing you go do for your cannabis photography is spend more time doing it. You don’t need to spend a ton of money to get started and you can still achieve high quality images on a budget.