Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Smoke?

[Tired but willin]

I'm very quickly going mad and could really do with some help before i take my camera and jump through the window.....

Photographing Smoke - right I've read and watched a number of clips on youtube on how to do this but after trying 3 times now and taking over a 100 shots ive lost the will....

Setup - Canon 500d 3-4 feet away from subject. Black back drop with 2million candle torch to one side (3 inch cover taped around the edge to stop light spilling on back drop) with a large reflector opposite, all pointing towards a box with a number of incense sticks burning. Shooting in manual at SS 160-250 and F8 - now for some reason the camera can barely pic up the smoke, even though its seriously lit up....i'm having to increase the ISO to around 1600-3200 to get any kind of pic, which as you can imagine is coming out very noisy. I'm also having to get the torch really close to the incense sticks which is making it even more difficult. I'm starting to think there's something wrong with the camera??

Any help really appreciated....i've attached a couple of the better pics without any editing...

 

[greenjackson16]

I've always liked smoke photos. These are good, but you should define the smoke more in this photo. It feels a little to whispy and un-noticed, I know you mentioned that they are un-edited but these are just a few tips for the editing.
~ Jackson

 

[bentcountershaft]

I've never done these so this is a blind guess, but is there a lot of air movement in the room? Furnace on or people moving around?

 

[Tired but willin]

No movement - it's like the camera cant pick up the light running through the smoke? I need to get the ISO down but haven't a clue how i can do this. The only other thing is to buy a remote speedlite and see if that helps????

 

[Joves]

Well judging by the incense it is out of focus which isnt helping. Maybe try stopping down some more, Im guessing you are using a tripod. The light may actually be a tad close ofr theat shot because we can see it in the photo, so the camera sees it and that will throw the camera off as well. Go here for good techniques for lighting Strobist do a search for smoke.

 

[lyonsroar]

I had the same problem. I tried it first using a big halogen shop light (no idea on candle power.) Came out with some decent ones, not great though. I ended up decreasing the shutter speed so much the smoke took on an ethereal quality quite like the aurora borealis. I lightened them up QUITE a bit in PP.

Then I got a strobe and the whole thing got 1,000,000x easier. Smoke was crisp and I could bump up the speed to 1/200.

Before with static light:
Smoke 8 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Rasta | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

With strobe:
Dope | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_9050 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[Overread36]

500D has a popup flash - might not be ideal, but pop it up and give it a try. Simply put if the smoke is not showing up then you've not got enough light on the subject for the camera to make an exposure. Remember cameras need a lot more light than our own eyes do in order to make an exposure (without taking the ISO very high), especially so as the shutter speed goes up and the aperture gets smaller.

 

[Tired but willin]

A strobe it is then.......Lionsroar can you advise on a model which wont break the bank?? Thanks for the pointers.....

 

[lyonsroar]

A strobe it is then.......Lionsroar can you advise on a model which wont break the bank?? Thanks for the pointers.....

This is the one I have:
Amazon.com: Vivitar DF383 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Power Zoom /Swivel /Bounce Auto-Focus Flash for Canon TTL, Guide Number 45m (147&#39: Electronics

Works well, no problems so far!

 

[shmne]

If you need to lower your ISO increase your light. That is all you can do with this situation

 

[KmH]

No movement - it's like the camera cant pick up the light running through the smoke? I need to get the ISO down but haven't a clue how i can do this. The only other thing is to buy a remote speedlite and see if that helps????

To get the ISO down you need a brighter light.

You can't use the popup flash because it will also light the background, which you don't want.

Focus on the end of a single stick of incense before you light it, and then put the camera in manual focus mode so the focus doesn't change (assumes the camera is on a tripod).

I use $90 Vivitar 285HV Auto Professional Flash
flash units and radio triggers similar to this: CowboyStudio NPT-04 4 Channel Wireless Hot Shoe Flash Trigger Receiver for Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus & Pentax Flashes Other products by cowboystudio so I can use the flash unit off the camera.

I've got one of these $50 flash units on order to test, but others here on TPF have the same unit and use it: YONGNUO Flash Speedlite YN-460II for Nikon Canon Pentax

 

[Tired but willin]

Many thanks for all the tips and pointers! It's amazing just how much light you need in situations like this, which i was unaware of until now! Going to have a look at the information sent on flash units/strobes and see what i can sort out.....

Dan.

 

[Bram]

Buy a flash and trigger? Steady lights are not enough to freeze the subject evidently. Get one, it really helps trust me.

 

[KmH]

Steady lights are not enough to freeze the subject evidently.

Continuous lighting can not stop motion, because it's on all the time. But strobed light can, because the duration of the flash of light is quite short.

Most hot shoe strobed light units set to full power have a flash duration of about 1/1000, and as the power level is reduced the flash duration gets even shorter. So, the flash of light stops motion in the photo, instead of the shutter speed. The shutter/flash sync speed for most cameras is usually no faster than 1/250, because at faster shutter speeds one (or both) shutter curtains is covering part of the image sensor and will cause part of the photo to be black.
Here is a good video that illustrates how the shutter works with strobed light:

 

[Tired but willin]

Thanks guys.....are there any wireless strobes out there that somebody could recommend for a canon 500d? Or would you recommend buying a kit for a cheaper model - had a little look on amazon and its a bit of a minefield..

Thanks in advance..