High Times – October 2019

LIGHTS

If you can’t get natural light, make your own.

Photographers basically have two choices

when it comes to lighting: continuous and

strobe. Continuous lighting is the only choice

for video, but it’s also very popular in digital

photography. Modern fluorescent and LED

lights (cold lights) work great and make the

photo shoot much more comfortable than

old-school halogen lights (hot lights). Flash

photography (or strobe) is still the most

popular lighting technique for many reasons.

A strobe can be as simple as an on-camera

flash or as complex as a professional power-

pack system. The bright flash of a strobe

allows photographers to use smaller aper-

tures, keeping everything in focus. A simple

flash can fill in shadows or create extreme

drama. Flash is also great for freezing motion

or creating special effects.

HARD OR SOFT?

How do you like your shadows? Soft boxes,

umbrellas and colored gels allow you to

change the feel of the photo. Modifiers allow

you to create soft, delicate flowers or harsh,

dramatic effects. Colors can evoke moods

or feelings and can take a boring bud into

another level of creativity.

BACKDROPS AND MORE

One of the most overlooked aspects of can-

nabis photography is the background. When

it’s time for your hero shots, backgrounds

can make or break your photo. How many

times have you seen a big, fat, juicy bud with

a distracting, busy background? Don’t get

me wrong, I love interesting backgrounds,

but it’s hard to make the subject stand out

when it’s competing with the background

for attention. I always recommend using

standard black-and-white backgrounds for

product shots. Then it’s time to party with

colored gels, vapes and other creative light-

ing techniques. You can spend a lot of money

on backdrop stands, tables and other cool

gadgets, but all you really need is a couple of

foam-core boards to create amazing photos.

66 HIGH TIMES I OCTOBER 2019

Macro

photography

set up

Simple light

set up for

shooting

flowers

A simple flash can

fill in shadows or create

extreme drama. Flash is

also great for freezing

motion or creating

special effects.