Transcript How to collect photographs for the SE

Introduction to
Plant Photography
Purpose
• Being able to use photographs to identify
the species adds validity to the data
collected and entered into the SE-EPPC
EDDMapS
Photography
• Learn the diagnostic characteristics of the
invasive species
• Capture them in enough detail to make
identification possible
– Usually will require a series of photographs
Common Characteristics Used for
Identification
Garlic Mustard
Bicolor Lespedeza
Flowers
Seeds/Fruit
Common Characteristics Used for
Identification
Nepalese Browntop
Whole Plant
English Ivy
Growth form
Common Characteristics Used for
Identification
Woody Plants - Leaf arrangement
Chinese Privet
Opposite
Common Characteristics Used for
Identification
Woody Plants - Leaf arrangement
Oriental Bittersweet
Alternate
Common Characteristics Used for
Identification
Woody Plants - Leaf shape
Amur Honeysuckle
Simple
Norway Maple
Lobed
Tree-of-Heaven
Compound
Common Characteristics Used for
Identification
Unique Features
Cogongrass
Pointed Rhizome
Tree-of-Heaven
Glandular Notch
Common Characteristics Used for
Identification
Unique Features
Yellow Star-thistle
Air potato
Thorns
Bulbils
General Principles of
Photography
• To reduce shake, use a tripod when
possible
• Take multiple photographs of the same
subject and choose the best one
• Use the highest resolution and best quality
images available with your digital camera
• Images uploaded to system in JPEG
format
General Principles of
Photography
Position yourself so that the sun
is over your shoulder for the
best light (Frontlit image)
General Principles of
Photography
If the sun is behind the plant
(your are looking into the sun)
then details of the plant may be
lost in the shadows
(backlit image)
Backlit image
Frontlit image
General Principles of
Photography
• A flash can work when the natural light
isn’t enough or coming from the wrong
direction
• Try adjusting your flash intensity
Low intensity flash
Removes shadows and
illuminates detail without
“washing out” colors
Focal Plane
• A plane parallel to the face of the camera’s lens
in which everything is in focus (aka depth of
field)
Focal Plane
Focal Plane
Common buckthorn
Camera Settings
• Automatic settings are usually adequate
• Manual setting options
– Shutter Priority
• Hand-held situations
• Long exposure (with tripod)
– Aperture Priority
• Depth of field
• In conjunction with macro
– Macro (close-up)
Aperture (F-stop)
• The hole in the lens through which light
passes (represented by an F-stop value)
Aperture (F-stop)
• Small F-stop numbers = large aperture =
shallow depth of field
• Large F-stop numbers = small aperture =
large depth of field
Aperture (F-stop)
• Adjusting the aperture size can increase or
decrease focal plane depth
Small F-stop number
Aperture (F-stop)
• Adjusting the aperture size can increase or
decrease focal plane depth
Large F-stop number
Large Depth of Field
Shallow Depth of Field
Japanese Honeysuckle
Macro
• Fine detail
• Close-up
Photographs to include
• The form allows five images to be
uploaded with each record entered
– Identification images
– Infestation/Landscape image
Not Enough for Identification
Not Enough for Identification
An example set of images
Cogongrass
An example set of images
Cogongrass
An example set of images
Cogongrass
An example set of images
Cogongrass
An example set of images
Tree-of-Heaven
An example set of images
Tree-of-Heaven
An example set of images
Tree-of-Heaven
An example set of images
Tree-of-Heaven