Have you always wanted to take a photograph like this, but thought it was extremely difficult? Well, I'm sorry to tell you that you were wrong... ? In this tutorial I explain the steps so that you can do the test at home and see that it is not one of the most complicated photographic techniques . It only takes a little patience, time and some materials. You dare?
MATERIALS
- Tripod.
- Black cloth. Make it matte, without glitter, so that it does not reflect the light from the flash.
- Incense sticks (could also be cigarettes, but they are less healthy and smell worse…). You can hold them with a sand container or similar or an incense holder.
- external flash.
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR HOME "MINI STUDIO"
Place the black cloth as the background and in front of it the tripod with your camera, if possible, with a macro lens. If you don't have a macro, try the one you have, you can get it too.
You have to place the flash to one side, forming 90º with the camera, so that it does not illuminate the background, also, it will be much better, to avoid reflecting on the cloth, place the black cardboard between the cloth and the external flash.
Between the background and the camera, obviously, place your smoke source.
In case I have not explained myself well, here is a diagram so that you can see it better:
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
The ideal is a manual focus , so I advise you to use the tripod. The tripod is fixed and if you don't move the wand, the focus will work for the different shots. If you prefer autofocus, a trick is to bring an object closer to the line of smoke and focus, so it will be easier for you. (Be careful, remove the object before shooting! ? )
And a tip: if you use a remote shutter, you will avoid any movement of the camera.
You should put the ISO as low as possible and the mode in aperture priority. The ideal is between (f/8 and f/11), but do several tests to see if the exposure is adequate or not and readjust the parameters until you get the desired effect. If you look at the histogram, in these cases the image must be in the black zone (the left part). And be careful not to burn the smoke so it doesn't lose volume.
Avoid having drafts in the room, otherwise it will be very difficult to control the focus. If the smoke pattern is very static or linear, wave your hand nearby to stir it up or blow on it.
Once you manage to adjust the parameters you will be able to spice up the smoke and shoot as many times as you want to capture infinite shapes, no image will be the same as the previous one. Of course, be careful not to end up hypnotized by the dance of smoke... ?
IMAGE PROCESSING
What do you want to be more creative and achieve an image similar to this?
Don't be scared, you don't have to change the fabric or darken the smoke, it's much easier, you just need to process the image with the image editor.
Go to Image>Adjustments>Invert
You'll get a result similar to this, with the smoke being a reddish or brownish hue.
Now go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map and select “Black, White” in the gradient editor. This will give you the image like the one above of Harle, with the black smoke.
But you can still be more creative and color the smoke. Click the black color handle at the bottom left of the gradient scale and choose a purple (or whatever you prefer) to change the color.
From here, let your imagination run wild and color the smoke as you wish. You can use a solid or gradient layer by selecting the Color or Hue blend mode. You can also paint with colored brushes over the smoke by working on a layer in Color mode. But you already have your smoke! Do you want to show us?
You already know that theory is forgotten, but practice is not, so I hope that if not today, in the next few days, you will take out your camera and light an incense. You have already seen that it does not seem so difficult, right?
