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Took a break for 30 mins this afternoon and decided to try out smoke!

Critique and comment greatly appreciated.








Cheers

beautifully taken
Is the lighting natural?, if not i would assume they were done in a studio nomal cigarette smoke does not look so vibrantand and blue

The blue tone adds to the overal appeal of the images.
I would suggest centering the subject if you decide to crop.

Cool concept, I hadn't thought to take photo's of smoke, but I find these really appealing. I'd be very interested in what you used for the smoke, backdrop, lens / flash ? Nicely done!

Very intertesting Matt, really catches the attention

Wow, that's some good stuff. I am also curious how you lit this.

Holy smoke Batman.

What kind of tobacco/substance makes such nice white smoke?

Peter Mc

Matt - I am enjoying your photos more and more!! This stuff included..amazing shots and crystal clear...I too, like the others would love to know how you got this effect. Much PP involved?

I have always loved the natural textures smoke can create and your captures just further adds to that. Keep experimenting, would like to see more.

Is it just me or can anyone else see a face in the first one?
Nice pics by the way.

I like. You have inspired me to try smoke myself. Excellent.

Hey everyone,

Thank you for the comments.
The set up was incredibly easy really - as with all my efforts.

The black background is my leather jacket perched on an open cupboard door.
The smoke is coming from a HUGE joint!! no, its a joss stick.
Then simply backlit and snapped.

i think the exif is 1/160 at 5.6 with the 50mm.

The only PP that was done was a boost to the contrast and slightly made the WB a bit cooler.

Cheers again guys

Great pics Matt and great idea there too.

I like the thinner wisps of smoke as the patterns created look like mini characters dancing

lkgrainger wrote:Is it just me or can anyone else see a face in the first one?

Yep - I can see it too. It looks quite Pink Floyd-ish (reminicent of The Wall).

Rokkstar - such a simple subject and technique, yet amazing results. Well done. I doubt my imagination (or lack thereof) would have ever come up with that idea.

I think backlighting is a clear winner for volumetric effects such as showing off dust, smoke etc. I was reading some photo mags from the UK where this guy was photographing a horse race in arabia it was either early morning or dusk and the guy was shooting towards the light. The light was to his left and he captured all the dust that the horses were kicking up. Looked marvellous, as do these pictures do.

Thanks Matt for reminding me if that I ever want to shoot something like dust, smoke, vapours then to make sure there is a rear light!

Thank you for all the comments people.
These shots were taken very quickly, I didn't really set things up too much because it was my first attempt. Now that I've I know what techniques work and which don't I plan to take some more.

I can see a face now in the first one. Man I love smoke - it's just so......cool for want of a better word.

AWESOME IMAGES!!!!!!!!!

Very differant and well done.

So simple and yet so effective... Great idea and very well done...