first real try at smoke photography

[stanleydegraaf]

this was my first try at smoke photography,

this was my setup:
behind the cardboard stood a flash (i am not the one on the photo that's a friend of my.

these were the best two that i made:




comments and critique are always welcome

[Andrew76]

Very nice - good shots. Thanks for sharing your setup as well, that's very nice of you!

[stanleydegraaf]

thanks, and ithought that would be handy if someone wanted to give some tips, then they could see what i've done and correct me if they have a better idea

[JPS]

Hi Stanley,
Both of your pictures are very nice, but for me your 1st picture is very nice indeed.

It looks like you have a nice set up there and there can be no denying you know how to use it.

I look forward to seeing more of your work.
Well done.

[Mike Buckley]

This really is very nice but I've still got some questions.

What is producing the smoke?

Please explain you're lighting in more detail. I see the contraption on the right. Is that the flash that you mentioned behind the cardboard? If so, what purpose does the cardboard serve?

Is the light on the left a continuous light?

[Ricco]

Stanley - been a while since I've posted here (heaps of distractions recently) but your post prompted me. Have a look at the below link for some other suggestions of what you can do. I posted some smoke photos in my (long abandoned) project 52 thread about 1/2 way down the page.

Project 52 by Peter

[stanleydegraaf]

hi mike,

the thing that is producing the smoke is an incense stick, i found that they give the nicest smoke and they smell not to bad to

the lighting is very simple: the lamp on the left is just a normal desk lamp (continuous light) and on the right behind the cardboard stood a flash on a wireless trigger, the cardboard was used to make sure i didn't get any lensflare. because i was moving around and didn't set my camera on a tripod.

hoped it helped, blow is a picture that explains my set-up

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i4uhkhwmgo54xhl/share.png

[stanleydegraaf]

Stanley - been a while since I've posted here (heaps of distractions recently) but your post prompted me. Have a look at the below link for some other suggestions of what you can do. I posted some smoke photos in my (long abandoned) project 52 thread about 1/2 way down the page.

i just looked them up and the're very nice,
for the white background did you just invert the black background?

your set-up was very similair to that from my, only you used a reflector and i a lamp.
(i think i am gonna try a white background on some of my photo's to)

thank you for the inspiration

[Ricco]

I inverted the photo in GIMP. Then added a layer for the colourisation.

[ChrisH]

A. Great set of images, especially for a first attempt - well done.

[Quinn]

Hi Stanley
Good images
My setup was very similar to yours. These are my first and only attempt. I see you have used Joss sticks too. I wonder what else would make a good source of smoke ??




Regards
Phil

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, Stanley, for the more detailed explanation. Now I get it.

Thank you also to Peter for your Project 52 thread about doing this.