Smokey smoke :D

[monmon238]

Here is the gear i used and the camera settings:
Camera: Canon Rebel T1i (500d)
Lens: 18-55mm (kit lens)
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure: 1/200 sec
ISO: 100
Flash was fired.

i don't have any studio equipment or even a speedlight, so to shoot this pic i did the following, i used a black t-shirt as a backdrop which i put on a chair and then pointed the camera towards it and then put the incense stick in middle and directed a lamp desk towards the stick from the left to provide more light, i took about 40 shots with different settings then chose one to use for the task then i opened it in photoshop, did some raw editing to make the smoke look at its best and removed some blemishes from the background, inverted it and voila!!




Same pic, but i applied gradient overlay instead.


please tell me which is better, and what could i have done to make them better?

[carlyfan]

The multi-color effect is pretty cool, but I actually prefer the first one. I think the smoke wisps are more defined with the white background. This is really awesome!

Lisa

[katia]

i loooooooooooove the first one! fantastic! the color is brilliant.

it's like blood coarsing through veins!

[NgaiHill]

I like them both, love the colours in the second one. TFS!

[Eileen D]

Both work but I prefer the airiness of the first one. Great job and I like your explanation of the way you improvised the setup!

[DravensHalo]

oooh i love the how detailed the first one is - i love the colour in th esecond one - but i think it has lost to much detail.

[JohnKnorr]

Awesome work. They are both really cool, but I prefer the multicolor one... looks like it could be an album cover

[sjakes]

I REALLY like the 1st one, very nice!!!

[Chippee]

Awesome shots! I really love the first one as well.