Images of plant problems can be very useful for diagnosis and identification. Pictures are free and easy to submit. We do not provide diagnosis or identification on an image only because it is not feasible in most cases to make even a good guess, but we will accept images in order to assist in determining what type of sample is most appropriate. Here are tips to help send better pictures.
- Get different perspectives.
- Provide a variety of pictures.
- Take pictures of the whole plant.
- Take close-up pictures of suspected disease symptoms or other small features on the plant.
- Make sure the lighting is proper. This may mean trying different angles and locations.
- Make sure that the features of the plant or the suspected plant disease are in full light, as shadows can obscure the specimen and what you want to see.
- Focus, focus, focus.
- Make sure the specimen (plant, plant symptoms) are seen clearly.
- To focus a cell phone camera, often simply tapping the screen will adjust the focus automatically.
- For standard point-and-shoot cameras, pushing the capture button down halfway will focus most cameras. If a close-up is required look for the macro option on the camera, often a tulip icon or button.
- Include a size reference.
- Depending on the size and scale of the plant or symptom, place a coin, pencil, ruler, or yardstick next to the specimen in the photograph.
- Take several pictures (digital film is free!), but send only the best five to ten.
- Include whole-plant view
- Symptom pattern observed (top, side, or bottom-most affected)
- Trunk/stem, and base of the plant
- Close-ups of the most common symptoms
- If you need assistance send an email to pidc@iastate.edu.
- Remember to provide as much information about the situation as possible. There is no such thing as too much information!
- Don’t discard any specimen material. If submitting a sample is recommended, having the specimen material available to send is important!
Do not feel the need to apologize. We’re all in this together, and photography is difficult. Practice and patience. Your pictures will get better with practice.
Check out this video about taking good photos for plant diagnostics: