Smoke

[JUNCKMAN]

This is my first post and first pictures I have ever taken in manual mode. I read and learned a few techniques from this forum so I thought I would give back what I learned. I know these probably suck but you have to start somewhere, right?

One thing to note: I used such a high ISO because I couldn't get the smoke to show up until I started messing with a high ISO. Next time I want to shoot with a lower ISO because these pics came out grainy.


Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 1600
Flash: Held a flash from bottom of smoke
Light: Reflective light from off to the right


Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 1600
Flash: Held a flash from bottom of smoke
Light: Reflective light from off to the right


Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 1600
Flash: Held a flash from bottom of smoke
Light: Reflective light from off to the right


Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 1600
Flash: Held a flash from bottom of smoke
Light: Reflective light from off to the right

[JUNCKMAN]

I read the rules after I posted because I was excited. I posted 4 images instead of 1. Won't happen again. SORRY.

[jiminyClickit]

JUNCKMAN, Welcome

Which would serve you best: picking the one you think needs work, or your favorite?

[filemanager]

These are beautiful!

[Winning Post]

Hey Junckman,

I really like these shots. I saw something very similar in a mag last month and have been planning to do some of my own. I'll throw them up here when i have.

One idea they did suggest was mirroring the coloured smoke in horizontal/vertical plane (or both) creating some amazing looking images, very alien like.

Nice one!

[aakash_vakil]

Damn, I need a external flash now !!! Very nice try.....the post said a shutter speed of 1/250s minimum is needed to get a sharp photo of smoke. You EXIF says 1/100s. Appreciate if you can share why did you select this exposure setting?

Regards,
Aakash

[JUNCKMAN]

I am new to this so the reason for choosing 1/100 opposed to 1/200 was because it looked more detailed when I changed the ISO to 1600 and chose 1/100. Originally I had it set to 1/200 and the ISO was at 200 but the smoke didn't show up. This was when I only had a reflective lamp light hitting the smoke. About 50 pictures into I added an external flash and started getting the shots I was after. I think I just kept the old settings because I was excited. 1/100 I am sure would have worked fine, perhaps better?

[Nicole]

The trick is to really get a lot of light and in the right place I just use a few worklights to get the light right since I haven't had a flash to use (See, you don't need a flash aakash ). But with these photos (esp. #3) I think that a faster shutter speed could have worked better for these shots JUNCKMAN if only because then you could have decreased your ISO. I find smoke shots already look grainy at 200 because of the texture of the smoke, so 1600 must add a lot of grain.

I would probably also be careful about those blown out areas that are on your first 2 shots. Because they are so large, and very bright against the black background they really stand out and draw my eye away from the smoke shapes.

For some extra inspiration on these types of shots, you may be interested in Myla Kent's smoke shots. Her's were the first ones I saw and they really inspired me to try it myself.