Smokin

[Johnny|lucidcomposure]

They are good but a little soft. You need to broadend the depth of field and make sure its almost nailed spot on for sharp, crisp lines.

I also find the best method is to have the flash right next to smoke rather than up as you get much sharper results with better depth as the light cuts through the side rather than illuminate (which is what you'll get from shooting under)

Here is some of the work I have done shooting with the above method.

Shooting very complex captures and merging them can give you Optimus Prime..

Shifting the light to shoot down can give you something like this.

 

[Johnny|lucidcomposure]

^^ nice setup a little more pro than mine lol

Last one for now and my favorite...

Also loving this.

 

[Wedge]

They are good but a little soft. You need to broadend the depth of field and make sure its almost nailed spot on for sharp, crisp lines.

I also find the best method is to have the flash right next to smoke rather than up as you get much sharper results with better depth as the light cuts through the side rather than illuminate (which is what you'll get from shooting under)

Agreed a little soft, (duly noted tip above) but was my first ever go

I will try again soon, as i found it great fun to do

 

[Johnny|lucidcomposure]

Agreed a little soft, (duly noted tip above) but was my first ever go

I will try again soon, as i found it great fun to do

Mate I can say I have easily fired off over 1000 bursts trying to capture what I want. The rate of keepers is a shocking ratio but it is really fun to do but the after smell lingers for days!
A great tip is to use a low powered light source to shine through the smoke so you can always see what shapes are there and when. The above shots were using a concentrate very hard in the dark technique I grew tired of!

 

[Wedge]

I used joss/jost? sticks in the garage, so smell not an issue.

My keepers, like 10 from 400

Will try your tips later

 

[Mark A]

These look great! Got to say, I prefer the more subtle ones, like Wedge's first shot and Mr Jones's comp entry. They would make great canvases IMO.

I really want to have a go but I dont want to buy off camera flash triggers yet as I'm hoping to upgrade my camera at christmas and i dont think the D80 ones will work with the D90 or D7000.

 

[Johnny|lucidcomposure]

These look great! Got to say, I prefer the more subtle ones, like Wedge's first shot and Mr Jones's comp entry. They would make great canvases IMO.

I really want to have a go but I dont want to buy off camera flash triggers yet as I'm hoping to upgrade my camera at christmas and i dont think the D80 ones will work with the D90 or D7000.

Use an TTL cable then?. Thats all I use?

 

[Oxygen]

A great first batch Wedge but I think Mr Jones & Johnny's tips are right on the money. Also make sure to have a play with colour and mirror images in PS for all sorts of weird shapes and images.

A couple of mine from last year.

.... more fun to be had with light trails also.

Happy shooting !

 

[86JR]

Looks like a magic chess game

 

[proxy10]

wow.................how amazing!!!! how could you do that?