catching fire

[snehajayatheertha]

Hi,

I was playing with shutter speeds today. While capturing this one, had imagined a picture with the match stick catching fire and smoke around it. Though I like this pic, it's not like the one in my mind I tried to capture the smoke in a few more shots with different shutter speeds and ISO but ended up brightening the flame too much.
How do I capture the smoke and the flame without over-exposing the brighter parts in the frame?
Any ideas on how the current picture could have been shot better?



EXIF (more on flickr)
Camera: Canon EOS 450D
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 5/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Thanks

-sneha

[Major_Small]

Have you tried throwing light through the smoke? Right now your sole light source seems to be the fire, in which case you'd have to pretty much get lucky to get the smoke from that flame lit as well.

On the other hand, what kind of smoke patterns are you expecting? I'd think a lit match just left a hot trail of dark smoke heading straight up for some time - a lot of the good smoke pictures are made by disturbing white smoke from what I know of the topic - you may need more than one shot to get the concept you have in mind. Or not. I don't have much experience in shooting smoke.

[snehajayatheertha]

Thanks Major_Small

Originally Posted by Major_Small

Have you tried throwing light through the smoke?

Yeah, I did light up a candle and took a few more pics but guess that was not sufficient to catch the smoke.

Originally Posted by Major_Small

Right now your sole light source seems to be the fire, in which case you'd have to pretty much get lucky to get the smoke from that flame lit as well.

In this pic, yes.

Originally Posted by Major_Small

On the other hand, what kind of smoke patterns are you expecting? I'd think a lit match just left a hot trail of dark smoke heading straight up for some time - a lot of the good smoke pictures are made by disturbing white smoke from what I know of the topic - you may need more than one shot to get the concept you have in mind. Or not. I don't have much experience in shooting smoke.

I'm expecting to capture the smoke patterns that emerge out of the match stick when it's ignited. I'll try with more light tonight....

-sneha

[Major_Small]

I think it'd take a lot more than one candle to light the smoke and the fire - remember, that fire is real bright when it's in the shot. Something like a snooted flash fired through the smoke is what I was thinking. Perhaps even on-camera flash could work if you could control it well enough (make sure it doesn't hit the match or background).

[snehajayatheertha]

I'll use your suggestion. Thanks!

-sneha