5 minute read
Cannabis Photography
SLOANE SIMON
PHOTOS BY: ZANDER LUCERO @CANNABIS_PHOTOGRAPHY_OK
A picture can truly be worth a thousand words. But these cannabis photographers have us wishing a picture was also scratch and sniff.
PHOTOS BY: ZANDER LUCERO @CANNABIS_PHOTOGRAPHY_OK
This month, we are recognizing the artists in the cannabis community and their work. I had the opportunity to speak with two different photographers, both Oklahoma boys, and help showcase their artwork.
Zander Lucero
(Instagram @cannabis_photography_ok) has been doing photography for about six years. During his middle school days, Lucero started doing graphic design and dabbling in photography, mostly portraits. By the time he entered high school, Lucero had a steady stream of work doing family portraits after school. Post-graduation, he entered the workforce as a real estate photographer.
Over the last year, however, Lucero has focused his attention on cannabis photography. Having a natural eye behind the camera, he saw the beauty behind the plant itself. Lucero states,
Because of its uniqueness, each strain presents differently. What Lucero noticed while scrolling through WeedMaps and Leafly was that many dispensaries and grows weren't taking advantage of good photography to showcase their product. Lucero began reaching out and offering his services to local growers and dispensaries to better market their products.
Since he’s been growing his own cannabis at home as well, Lucero began his portfolio with his own plants and flowers. Lucero wants to use his gift of photography to provide education to people. Being passionate about the lifestyle, his goal is to help people understand that cannabis is a wonderful, beautiful plant that is providing health benefits for many people.
In fact, Lucero ’s own diagnosis of Crohn ’s Disease is what led him to cannabis. His hope is to help decrease the stigma that cannabis has carried for years as a bad, dangerous plant. In fact, without cannabis, he would still be using chemotherapy as a way to, ineffectively, treat his Crohn ’s. Since starting cannabis medicinally, his Crohn ’s is basically in remission. Through his photos, Lucero hopes to share his passion and provide education of the goodness that cannabis provides to its users.
Curtis Taylor
(Instagram @curt_ice) has been involved in the cannabis industry since 2015. Hailing from Clinton, Oklahoma, Taylor would admire the photos of cannabis in issues of High Times but could only dream of being involved at that time.
When Oregon legalized recreational cannabis in 2014, he knew it was something he wanted to be a part of. A plan was put into place, and in 2015, Taylor packed his bags and headed to the Pacific Northwest.
Landing in Portland, Oregon, Taylor started working as a budtender at one of the toprated dispensaries in the nation. It was here at this dispensary that he was able to fuse his love for cannabis and photography.
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PHOTOS BY: CURTIS TAYLOR @CURT_ICE
Since his initial employment as a budtender, Taylor has since moved to full-time photography, getting to shoot grows up and down the West coast, and more recently coming back home to Oklahoma to capture some amazing shots of our legal cannabis.
“Being able to share with people how beautiful and different each plant can be is really special to me" Taylor states. It was not until recent years that macro photography of the plant has really come about. This type of photo highlights the small, intricate details of each plant, known as the trichomes that produce THC and other cannabinoids. These trichomes are captured using extreme close-ups of the flower. In order to produce these images, Taylor uses a technique called focus stacking, which takes multiple exposures, each with a different area of the plant sharply focused. The final product is an image so beautiful and clear, showcasing those tiny little trichomes that provide so much goodness.
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PHOTOS BY: CURTIS TAYLOR @CURT_ICE
A self-proclaimed “ nerd” , Taylor really enjoys being able to capture so many different plants and learning each unique characteristic that that specific plant holds. In most jobs, the repetitiveness gets old. However, after taking thousands upon thousands of shots, Taylor still finds joy and excitement whenever he finds something new and exciting during a shoot. The plants and genetics are always evolving, presenting new characteristics with each new strain.
Taylor started using cannabis regularly in his early twenties after a bout with depression. Ever since, he has been a strong advocate for cannabis usage and what it can do for humans.
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Not only does it have many therapeutic and medicinal values without damaging side effects, it has a way to bring people from all walks of life together in a harmonious way. Cannabis has also provided Taylor with a job that he truly loves and is passionate about, a proclamation not many are able to say about their careers.
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PHOTOS BY: CURTIS TAYLOR @CURT_ICE
In fact, his passion behind his work is what has helped him land such an amazing job. Taylor has an amazing working relationship with the Oregon cultivator Green Bodhi.
Taylor ’s images are used exclusively on the Green Bodhi Instagram account (@greenbodhi). Go check out either Instagram account for some amazing weed porn.
Curtis Taylor is out there making a name for himself in the cannabis photography business.
His eye for the beauty that each flower holds has brought him a long way from his manager position at the Fuzzy’s Tacos on Campus Corner in Norman, Oklahoma. As a fellow cannabis lover and Western Oklahoman that knew him back in those Fuzzy’s days, seeing his work, his passion behind every photograph he produces, and watching him grow his brand creates a sense of pride in so many of us. Keep killin ’ it, Curtis!
Enjoy the photographs these amazing guys have provided and be sure to check their work out on Instagram.
Zander Lucero can be found @cannabis_photography_ok and Curtis Taylor’s work @curt_ice and @greenbodhi.
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PHOTOS BY: CURTIS TAYLOR @CURT_ICE
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PHOTOS BY: CURTIS TAYLOR @CURT_ICE
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PHOTOS BY: CURTIS TAYLOR @CURT_ICE
