How to Photograph Smoke – Step By Step Tutorial |  |
- How to Photograph Smoke – Step By Step Tutorial
- Interesting Photo of the Day: Man’s Friend Stares from the Grass
- Sony Cybershot HX50V: Interesting New Pocket Camera
- Night Photography Using Light Painting and Exposure Stacking
| How to Photograph Smoke – Step By Step Tutorial Posted: 29 Apr 2013 04:15 PM PDT Smoke photography can be extremely frustrating yet fulfilling at the same time. It all depends on how you approach the subject. If you have spare time and/or stuck indoors on a rainy day, then it’s the perfect opportunity to try this technique. There is no need for expensive camera equipment. Just your camera, flash and a few household products will do the job.  “Smokey Mountain” captured by Peter Emmett (Click Image to See More From Peter Emmett) All you need is a basic understanding of the relationship between the subject, lighting and background. The one vital ingredient that I would say is a must is PATIENCE! Oh, and a camera of course… Without those two things, you will walk away very stressed. There is no right or wrong way to achieve the perfect smoke trail. I used a mixture of my own method as well as techniques I picked up from others. The idea is to experiment and use whatever process you are comfortable with. You may even find a better way to do it. The important thing is that you get the perfect picture. In this tutorial, I will guide you through the entire shoot step-by-step. I will also offer my own ideas so you can try different techniques. Ok, let’s begin… STEP 1: Have the right equipmentBesides the camera and flash, you can improvise with almost everything else. I will be making suggestions during the tutorial so don’t panic if you are missing some items. The basic equipment you will need is: 1. Camera – with control over shooting mode. Preferably a DSLR so you can manually adjust the shutter speed, aperture and focus. 2. Off camera Flash or Strobe with Snoot – don’t worry if you don’t have a snoot. I made mine with a cereal box and some black art paper:-)  “smokeRED” captured by dimitri hepburn (Click Image to See More From dimitri hepburn) 3. Incense stick and holder – Incense sticks are the best source of smoke as they have a pleasant smell and provide a longer lasting continuous plume of smoke. If you don’t have a proper holder, you can use anything from play dough to a potato. As long as it holds the incense in place, it doesn’t matter what you use. You might also want to use something to catch the ash. 4. Black background and surface – You can use any dark coloured non-reflective background, but black is best if you want to capture perfect contrast and details of the smoke. You will also avoid lengthy post processing in Photoshop. Use paper, card or even velvet if you don’t have a proper colorama background. The black surface is not vital but helps to avoid any stray light bouncing off onto the background or the camera lens. 5. Tripod – This is not entirely necessary, but for this tutorial, we will use one. I took all my smoke photos handheld. It’s a little more difficult but you get some unique shots. Experiment with both methods and see which is best for you. 6. Reflector – This is optional if you want to reflect more light onto the smoke. 7. Portable light – A torch or something to light up the smoke so you can lock focus…and see where you’re going in the dark…  “chaos starting” captured by Javier Álvarez Jiménez (Click Image to See More From Javier Álvarez Jiménez) 8. A well-ventilated room – This is very important. Do not try it in a small room with just one small window! The smoke will fill a large room within 10-15mins so you will need to air the room out from time to time. This is because the smoke in the room will decrease the quality of your photo. Oh, and it’s not good for your health to breathe in all that smoke, even if it does smell good. 9. A lighter – you have to light the incense…:-) 10. PATIENCE! Lots of it! STEP 2: The Studio Set UpNow that you got all your gear, you will need to set them up in a way that will prevent any light spilling onto the black background or into your camera lens. I have included images below to illustrate the set up I use. The first image is the basic set up.
 “Smoke” captured by Peter Emmett (Click Image to See More From Peter Emmett) You can also arrange the equipment at an angle to the background, just make sure that you avoid any light reflecting onto the background. This is important because smoke has a natural grey colour so you need a pure black background to give it contrast. You also need to make sure that when you fire the flash, no light hits the camera lens. This will create glare in your picture. It is not entirely a bad thing as you can still turn it into a creative image, but you don’t want glare on all your photos. Glare in a smoke image is usually a bad thing, but not always. Most of the time I remove it later during my post-processing but occasionally I like the solar effect that it can create. STEP 3: Camera and Flash SettingsIn order to capture a decent smoke photograph you need to remember four important factors that need to be adhered to, 1. Fast shutter speed – because it is constantly moving, you need to catch the motion of the smoke 2. Small aperture – for a greater depth of field. Smoke is unpredictable so setting a small aperture allows you to capture more of it in case of sudden changes in shape. 3. Low ISO – This is because smoke will naturally show up on a photograph as grainy. A higher ISO will make this worse 4. Light – You need lots of it. With a combination of fast shutter speed, small aperture and low ISO, there is not enough light to expose the shot. Therefore, the smoke will need to be lit up appropriately. With all that in mind, set your camera accordingly based on its capabilities. As guidance, below are the settings I used with my Nikon D300 and a Nikon SB-900 Speedlight:
Ideally, you should use a flash or strobe that you can trigger remotely. However, you can connect the flash directly to your camera with a sync cord. Just be careful not to trip over it in the dark.  “smoke unprocessed” captured by dimitri hepburn (Click Image to See More From dimitri hepburn) You also need to channel as much light onto the smoke as possible. This is when a snoot or barn doors come in useful. If you don’t have either of these, use some card and secure it around the edge of the flash or strobe. Make sure the card extends out by about 2-3 inches. STEP 4: Taking the shotNow that you have everything in place, you need to ensure that all doors and windows are closed. Smoke is very delicate, so the slightest draught will disturb it and create thin unstable plumes, which you will find difficult to capture in detail. The room needs to be perfectly still. Next, light the incense stick. If you want thicker and unique swirls of smoke then I would suggest lighting up two incense sticks and placing them in the same holder together.Now, turn off your camera’s auto-focus feature, as it will not help at all. The smoke will be constantly moving and once the lights are turned off, it will struggle to find a focal point. Watch the smoke to see where it goes and manually focus on where you think the smoke will end up when you release the shutter. I would suggest focusing on the part just 2-3cm above the tip of the incense stick. If you need to, use the torch to light up the smoke so you can adjust the focus accurately.  “smoke” captured by Raul Ospina (Click Image to See More From Raul Ospina) Once done grab your torch and switch off all the lights in the room. Although, in my opinion, it doesn’t really matter if you shoot with the lights on or off, but for best results it is good to shoot in a darkened room to avoid any ambient light reducing the contrast. Take some test shot’s to check the exposure and adjust the settings accordingly. The idea is to get the background underexposed to a pure black (RGB 0, 0, 0) and the brightest part of the smoke should be white. When you’re happy with the exposure settings, its time to get creative and start shooting! When photographing smoke, I aim to capture smooth shapes and swirls in perfect detail and from different angles. All the smoke images you see in my gallery were taken without a tripod. I got in close to the smoke and moved around it to capture a different perspective. You can try the same if you get bored with standard smoke swirls. You can even alter the transition of the smoke to create different shapes by placing a spoon, or any other object, above the incense stick. Also, try gently wafting the smoke to get different patterns. And don’t forget, ventilate the room every 10-15mins. The build up of smoke will create a grey haze that will deprive your picture of light and contrast. It is also very uncomfortable to work in a room full of smoke no matter how rosy it smells… Final ThoughtAs I said at the start of this tutorial, there is no standard or “correct” way to photograph smoke. It’s all about experimenting and finding your own technique. You may end up taking hundreds of photos and keeping just a fraction of them, don’t let that put you off. Smoke is an unpredictable subject to shoot, and with the settings required to capture it, it is hard to get it right every shot. It’s all about trial and error. That’s all there is to it… About the Author For Further Training on Smoke Photography:One of the best-selling photography eBooks on the market is marked down drastically until midnight tonight and covers how to do many photography techniques that produce unusual, eye-catching results (including extensive chapters on photography methods). The deal can be found here: Trick Photography Guide Go to full article: How to Photograph Smoke – Step By Step Tutorial |
| Interesting Photo of the Day: Man’s Friend Stares from the Grass Posted: 29 Apr 2013 03:12 PM PDT While hiking with his girlfriend in Galveston Island State Park, Texas, Reddit user Lacostic, took a snapshot of his chocolate lab, Murphy, using his iPhone 5. As well composed as the photograph is, one might assume the obedient lab was following commands from his owner; however, Murphy was actually just watching Lacostic’s girlfriend who was hiking through the waist tall grass herself. Lacostic was ready with his camera and was able to snap the image we see below:  Friend watching from the grass (Click to See Full Size, imgur)
The photo was processed with the popular photo sharing app, Instagram. If you’d like to learn how to take more compelling pictures of your own pets, check out the series of tutorials right here on PictureCorrect: How To Get Animals To Look At You For Better Pet Portraits and How To Create Stunning Portraits of Your Dog. Go to full article: Interesting Photo of the Day: Man’s Friend Stares from the Grass |
| Sony Cybershot HX50V: Interesting New Pocket Camera Posted: 29 Apr 2013 01:16 PM PDT As more and more people prefer using their smartphones instead of a compact digicam, camera manufacturers are forced to make their compact cameras even better. The innovations continue, as Sony managed to pack an impressive 30x zoom starting from a 24mm equivalent focal length along with Wifi, GPS and manual control, in a body that will easily fit into a coat pocket. Introducing the Sony Cybershot HX50V compact camera (for those of you reading this by email, the video can be seen here): The lens, while not terribly bright is still a fair f/3.5 at the wide angle and f/6.3 at the tele and considering the crazy focal length range and small size is an engineering achievement. No wonder 5 of its 11 lens elements are some of the considerably more expensive aspherical type. The lens includes also optical stabilization that will help you keep your zoomed images sharp, eliminating hand shake induced blur. This camera, marketed as a worthy holiday companion is also capable to track your journey using the inbuilt GPS. The new HX50V also has built-in Wi-Fi capabilities utilizing Sony’s PlayMemories™ Mobile application, available for both Android and iOS app platforms, to transfer photos and videos through wireless to a connected smartphone or tablet. The application also allows a connected device to be used as a handy wireless remote to control the camera – ideal for self-portraits and group shots where the photographer wants to be included.
For more advanced users, the HX50V camera has a dedicated exposure compensation dial and a P/A/S/M model dial for adjusting other manual shooting settings. In addition, it features a 5-blade aperture for smooth background out of focus effect and a Multi Interface Shoe for attaching compatible accessories including an electronic viewfinder, flash or microphone. Go to full article: Sony Cybershot HX50V: Interesting New Pocket Camera |
| Night Photography Using Light Painting and Exposure Stacking Posted: 29 Apr 2013 11:30 AM PDT Photographs made using advanced light painting techniques often look as if they’d require a crew of a dozen assistants to achieve. But some artists have developed creative methods for making these elaborate images single-handedly. Photographer Russell Brown creates complex light paintings on his own using a Westcott Ice Light, colored gels, textural patterns, and exposure stacking. In this video, he demonstrates how he used a soft box lighting technique and image blending in Photoshop to create a stunning image of the Charcoal Kilns in Death Valley, California (for those of you reading this by email, the video tutorial can be seen here): Brown says he would have liked to create his image with a single exposure, but he appreciates the control he gains by using multiple light painting images. During his night in the desert, he took multiple images, painting a different portion of the scene with a Westcott Ice Light for each exposure. He saved seven images as smart objects in Photoshop and stacked them as separate layers to combine them for the final result.  Final product of the exposure blending For Further Training on Light Painting:One of the best-selling photography eBooks on the market is marked down drastically until midnight tonight and covers how to do many photography techniques that produce unusual, eye-catching results (including extensive chapters on various light painting methods). The deal can be found here: Trick Photography Guide Go to full article: Night Photography Using Light Painting and Exposure Stacking |
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