Sunday, July 29, 2012

OK. This was a weekend of experimentation. I have always been interested in smoke photography. But, I have never had the patience to attempt it. Well, that changed this weekend. I used a basic setup. Black foam core background, a light source to give me something to focus on and an alien bee 800 watt strobe set a its lowest power setting (1/32). I then lit a few incense sticks and began shooting. I was using a Canon 24-105mm /4 lens on a T2i with the ISO at 100 and the f-stop at around f10. I learned quickly that the magic happens in post. My first attempt was merely a collage of color (created by creating multiple layers in Photoshop and changing the hue).

Here is my first attempt:


After I saw how it was done and realized that extreme manipulation is expected when doing this type of photography, I decided to use my imagination. My second attempt is a bit more elaborate.

Here is my second attempt:





Overall I like my initial results. Each image has its own charm.

The most important thing to come from this foray into smoke photography is that I gained another weapon. I will definitely use smoke photography to augment other times of photography I am interested in. I will also use it to expand my creativity and broaden my imagination. If you haven't tried it, I recommend it.

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