I have spent the day smoking again

Sorry people its another smoke series. I cant help it I really enjoy smoking.

I have learnt the smoke images take a lot of trial and error. Previously as mentioned in my previous post about my smoke images I had made my own barn doors however I decided to try out a new method with a home made snoot which directed the light straight onto the smoke trail.

How to make the snoot


If you haven't got one the easiest cheapest way is a piece of black A4 card wrap it around the end of your flash seal it with tape job done you have a snoot the same width and depth as your flash you can trim a little off the end and then when you trigger your camera the light will hit the exact area you want to freeze and keep the light off your background and reduce any chance of lens flare.

The way I got the rainbow effect was to create a new layer in PS set it as overlay and then added a gradient to it.

Thanks for reading

James

A Day Playing With Smoke

This is another past time I enjoy there is something mystical about the way smoke moves. Today for some reason the smoke was not playing ball but I managed to pull a few shots off. For some reason the smoke and my set up just wouldn't play ball.

Do I need studio kit for this?


Honest answer in an ideal world yes but if like me you are on a budget all you need is a plain black background a desk lamp, tripod, off camera flash, barn doors would be ideal but if like me you haven't got them then some plain black card taped to both sides of your flash this helps direct the light onto the smoke and away from your background and a josh stick. And that is it really. You put the lamp one side to put some light onto the smoke and the flash the other side to illuminate the smoke when you push the shutter. Focus in on the top of the josh stick and then shoot away. You can jazz it up a little with coloured gels to add colour to the smoke but you can do this in photoshop via the hue/saturation if like me you haven't the budget for all the top gear.

Here is a few shots from today

Thanks For Reading
James