Photographing your plants

[Uncle Arthur]

It's a camera phone - but a good 3mp Nokia - still it lacks for what I want it for.

Yeah I'll try positioning something between the light and the plants.

 

Jimbo

 

OK. The reason I asked about the type of camera is because most digis have a white ballance function. This feature would have helped get rid of the yellow cast by corecting for the HPS colour temp. The NOKIA camera phone would not probably have such a feature. It would of cource be worth checking through your phone camera options to verify this. Camera phones are certainly getting a lot more sophisticated so you never know. If such a function exists all you have to do is point the camera at something that you know is perfectly white while under the HPS and set the colour ballance to this.

 

Failing that, and still wanting to use the HPS as the light source for your pictures, you will have to manualy colour correct the light reaching the camera lens.

 

There are several options here.

 

1/. Your local camera store will sell a number of filters that can be held in front of the lens But they are fairly pricy. If this option apeals to you the filters you want to look at are: The full blue, The half blue,and The quarter blue. One or a combination of those three will do the job for you.

 

2/. If you live in or close to Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane then look up John Barry Group or Panavision. They are both motion equipment and lighting companies and will sell every correction jell known to man. Now they sell these jells by the roll but as you only need pieces a couple of inches square I feel quite certain you could aquire them for nothing. Again you should have a full, half, and quarter blue.

 

3/. Probably the nastiest option butmaybe the easiest to implement is to go to your local newsagent and see if they have any blue gell (eg. for wraping presents). It will most likely not be perfect but should still be an improvement.

 

Ps. Ideal light for photos is probably a Multivapour MetalHalide as they have a daylight colour ballance.

 

Pss. If it happens that you end up going down the gell path while you are there it would be worth also picking up some minus green gell as it helps colour correct fluros.

 

Hope some of this helps. Feel free to PM me if you have any problems.

 

PPs. If you know anyone that is at all connected with the film and television industry, especially the production side, ask them to ask a gaffer for those bits of jell. It would not be a big deal.

 

 

 

Uncle Arthur

[jimbojones5678]

Thanks UA!

 

I don't really know one end of a camera from the other so I found all that info good. What do you smear the gel on the lens or something?

 

If you know anyone that is at all connected with the film and television industry, especially the production side, ask them to ask a gaffer for those bits of jell.

Yeah I'll make sure I ask Toadie to get me some next time he comes over for a session...hahahahaha!!!

 

Jimbo

[Uncle Arthur]

I don't really know one end of a camera from the other so I found all that info good. What do you smear the gel on the lens or something?

 

Sorry man I've been a little unclear. The gell I'm talking about is optically true coloured plastic. You either attach it to your phone over the lens (preffered method as it is less likely to get light on the lens side) with a couple of bits of tape or you just hold it in front of the lens while taking photo.

 

Blue tinted thin plastic sheet.