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- FILE TYPES
The best file types to use for submited photos are JPG or PNG. GIF is not an appropriate format for photographs.
The files should not be compressed very much which means very little data loss & large file sizes. JPGs can usually be saved with a level of 1-10 or 1-12. A higher level is better for our purposes.
- IMAGE SIZES
Each photo should be 800 pixels x 600 pixels at an absolute minimum. Ideally they would be 1200x800 or larger. Larger is almost always better. As long as images are at least 800 x 600 pixels, resolution (600 dpi, 300 dpi, etc) doesn't matter.
Appropriately saved images are usually between 200K and 2MB apiece. Larger than 2MB should only be used for extremely good quality images.
- FOCUS. FOCUS. FOCUS.
A key feature of a good quality photo is to make sure it is in focus. If you're using a digital camera, take several shots of each setup and then delete any that are even slightly out of focus. If they aren't sharply in focus, they are mostly garbage.
Advanced - Digitial auto-focus technology tends to be based on looking for horizontal or grid patterns to 'grab' onto and thus dont work as well with many plant photos. Cameras with manual focus are a good idea for any serious photographer.
Getting good focus takes experience with the camera and patience.
- LIGHTING
Another key feature is lighting; details are difficult to see in a dark photo. Good, bright lighting will often make it easier to get sharp focus. Often times close-up photos come out best if you move to a bright room, turn on all the room lights (and/or set a lamp nearby) before taking the picture.
Advanced - Try playing with different lighting, with and without the flash, etc. Flashes can make close-up shots TOO bright.
If you see a lot of graininess in the final photo, you probably didn't have enough light (or the exposure was set wrong). Color of light also makes a big difference in the final shot. Digital cameras will adjust white balance on the fly and this can make colors come out very very different. Try different settings on the white balance and try changing
lighting sources.
Cheap clip lamps, cheap halogen lights, diffusers, and reflectors can all help fill in lighting. There are some nice, fairly cheap, collapsible reflectors sold at camera stores (dual sided, some silvered, some just white, some with a gold tint). Using a reflector is definitely an advanced technique, they can really help increase the quality of a photo.
For macro shots, flash rings are really the best, but they are spendy. We hope to have a camera someday with a macro flash ring :)
- COMPOSITION & BACKGROUND
Cluttered photos are seldom good. A good basic rule is to make sure that the object you're photographing is sitting in a clear space with a simple background. Obviously this isn't always true...but it's good rule of thumb. Dirty dishes in the background of a photo really don't help. :)
When photographing small objects like pills or powders, a couple of pieces of paper can act as a good background. Make sure the background isn't the same color as the object you're photographing. White and black backgrounds are good defaults.
- DEPTH OF FIELD
Advanced - "Depth of field" is how much of a particular photo will be in focus. A short depth of field means that only items at a particular distance from the camera will be in focus. A long depth of field means that both close objects and distant objects will be in focus.
Depth of field is set by changing the "Aperature" on a camera. The Aperature is measured in "F-stops": F2.8, F4.5, F8.0, etc. The larger the F-stop number, the longer the depth of field.
If you're taking a closeup photo of a flower and one part of the flower is in focus and other parts are not (and you want them to be), then your depth of field is too short. Changing the aperature to a higher F-stop can help bring the rest of the flower into focus.
But aperature also affects the brightness of a photo. Setting a long depth of field will generally make a photo darker.
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