With skillful shooting, smoke rings, clubs, spirals look charming and mysterious. For an experienced master, shooting smoke is not difficult, but a novice photographer will be able to create his own composition and decorate the wall of his room or his computer desktop with it. It is best to shoot smoke in a studio, but a darkened room without drafts will do.
It is necessary
- - a camera (best of all, a digital SLR);
- - lens with a focal length of not more than 500 mm;
- - photoflash or photolamp;
- - black background (usually a piece of fabric measuring one meter by one meter);
- - incense sticks (they will be a source of smoke);
- - tripod (desirable but not required);
- - two side curtains (can be replaced with sheets of black cardboard).
Instructions
Step 1
First of all, you need to set the background. Attach the black cloth to the wall or frame.
Step 2
Place a table or incense stick at a distance of 20-30 cm from the background. It should be positioned below the background and out of the lens.
Step 3
Place the flash unit (lamp) to the side of the smoke source. Flash is preferable because smoke comes out more clearly in pulsed light.
Step 4
Place a shutter or sheet of paper between the flash and the background so that the light from the flash does not hit the background and is directed only towards the smoke. It is advisable to use the second shutter to "cut off" the light source from the camera lens. The light should be directed from top to bottom at a slight angle.
Step 5
Set up the camera on a tripod or on a hard surface. The distance to the subject varies depending on the capabilities of the lens and can be between 40 and 60 cm. Set the shutter speed and aperture. The shutter speed is desirable at least 1125, try to make the aperture as small as possible. A wide open aperture is detrimental to image sharpness. It is better to shoot smoke in the studio with autofocus, because manual adjustment is ineffective due to the strong variability of the object.
Step 6
Take some pictures. Adjust shutter speed and aperture if necessary. Then take several dozen more shots as often as possible. Multiple shooting is necessary in order to choose the ten most successful from a huge number of photos. Smoke is a rather unpredictable object, and it is extremely difficult to catch the right moment. The art of photography requires constant experimentation.
Step 7
Choose the best shots and process them in Photoshop. Using different blend modes and color combinations, you can make the smoke colorful.
