A few smoke photos for C&C

[lyonsroar]

I've been doing a little bit of smoke photography the last couple nights. I don't have access to a lot of lighting equipment so I made due with what I had. Kind of an Aurora Borealis effect...

Ghetto setup:
The first couple were shot using two house floor lamps and a Craftsman giant flashlight, the kind that runs on power drill batteries. Black foamcore as the background.

#1


#2



#3




and then I pulled out the halogen shop light...which didn't help at all...which lead me to get frustrated and bump the ISO, which led me to GRAIN! :thumbdown:

#4


#5



Anyway, any advice?
Thanks!
:thumbup:

 

[SageMark]

5 rocks. No advice, merely appreciated.

 

[rateeg]

any tutorial how you did this?

 

[lyonsroar]

any tutorial how you did this?

GOt a big piece of black foamcore, placed it behind a burning piece of incense (to create the black background) then took a big light and shined it crossways across the smoke being careful not to light up the foamcore. Mounted the camera on a tripod, shot in manual mode at 1/50th of a second (couldn't go any higher because of lack of light) at ISO 200 (to control noise,) and f13 with the flash off. Then just basically used my hand to swirl the smoke around a bit, and this is what came out.

I took probably close to 200 photos and got maybe a dozen out.

 

[lildlege1]

Very nice !!! They look so cool!!!!!

 

[Robin Usagani]

I like #2 & 4 the best. Will look good on a wall.

 

[lyonsroar]

I like #2 & 4 the best. Will look good on a wall.

Thank you. I think #4 is the best of the bunch.

 

[Beladol]

That is amazing man! Kudos to you

 

[Sbuxo]

I like the rasta colors in the first one, but wish the plume of smoke was better. ):

 

[Stephen.C]

I like number 4. The form is very sleek.
What lens did you use?

 

[MohaimenK]

OP u need light and flash that's why your smoke looks soft. You need constant light pointed at the smoke so it eliminates it for focusing. You need flash to light up the smoke. Try that and repost an see the difference.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Or focus first, smaller aperture, turn it to manual focus, turn off the light, fire away.

 

[lyonsroar]

OP u need light and flash that's why your smoke looks soft. You need constant light pointed at the smoke so it eliminates it for focusing. You need flash to light up the smoke. Try that and repost an see the difference.

I'm aware of the need for flash. As I said in the OP, I'm making the best out of what I have, and that does not include a flash at this point.

And, for the record, I think they look pretty darn good for having no flash.

 

[lyonsroar]

I like number 4. The form is very sleek.
What lens did you use?

Just the kit lens.
18-55mm