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Want to add some epic to your photos? Use some smoke, and here are 9 ways in which you can produce smoke for photography.
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Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs William Shakespeare
A SMOKEY SITUATION Want to add some drama and epic to your photos? Smoke and fog is probably one of those answers, but some photographers don’t even know where to get started. After searching much of the Internet, I found several ways to create smoke for photography. I put my hands to try some of those, and share my thoughts in this compiled slides.
01 : SMOKE MACHINE Probably the easiest method, and produces the best result. Some people may think that fog machines are expensive – but they are not. You can get a decent fog machine from eBay for about $35-$50. Pros : Inexpensive, consistent thick fog. Cons : Requires a power plug. Not good for outdoors without power.
02 : HAZE-IN-A-CAN One of my personal favorites. These spray cans produces thick smoke that hangs in the air long enough. Pros : Nice thick smoke, portable cans, no electricity required. Cons : Expensive. A can does not really last that long, and it cannot be refilled.
03 : FOG CAKE This is quickly becoming my favorite. Fog cakes are pieces of small round cake like… things that produce a lot of smoke when burnt. Pros : Cheap, nice thick smoke, portable, no electricity required. Cons : Smoke can go out of control… bring your own fans. Burns for about 2+ mins.
04 : INCENSE We all know that incense produces smoke… so what happens when we burn a ton of incense? Epic failure. It catches on fire, but still produces some smoke. Pros : Portable, no electricity required, repels insects. Cons : Fire hazard. Choking when burnt in large quantities.
05 : PHOTOSHOP When all else fails, there’s Photoshop. Find a stock photo of smoke, paste it in, and after some editing – magic. Pros : Magic. No physical products. Cons : Can be time consuming to get the smoke to look realistic.
DISCLAIMER OK, from this point on, I have not tested these methods myself – But, I have heard they work from friends and YouTube videos… Don’t shoot me if things go wrong.
06 : WATER & DRY ICE I am pretty sure most people have tried this in their science class… Yep, it works. But not really well for the purpose photography. Pros : Cold fog that hangs low, good for eerie feel. Easily available. Cons : Have to lug a load of dry ice and water to the shoot location. Screenshot from : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsO1B-FWD6I
07 : BABY POWDER / FLOUR What is the next best thing to smoke? Powder. Inexpensive and effective. Pros : Very thick, possible to control the direction… if the wind does not mess it up. Cons : Messy, probably have to do some Photoshop work. Screenshot from : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBjYS4STX5M
08 : PING PONG SMOKE BOMB With some science, you can make your own DIY smoke bomb. Aluminum + Ping Pong Ball + Lighter = Smoke Bomb. Pros : Not bad quite heavy smoke, relatively easy to make. Cons : TOXIC... Probably not good for photoshoots. Screenshot from : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBjYS4STX5M
09 : MOSQUITO FOGGER Don’t be fooled. These insect foggers are actually just gas can powered fog machines. Simply change the insecticide to fog fluid, and it works. Pros : Portable, works like smoke machine. Cons : Still somewhat expensive, requires butane to run. Screenshot from : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzwLf_fQnw8
Thanks! That’s all for the short slides. You can find me at : http://xlightphotography.com The original article for these slides : http://xlightphotography.com/ways-create-smoke-photography/
Purchase Links For you guys who are looking to buy some of those cool stuff to produce smoke, here are the eBay links. Note : These are referral links though, I will make a commission if you buy through these links. [Fog Machine] [Haze Can] [Fog Cake] [Incense] [Insect Fogger]
Credits Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free: Presentation template by SlidesCarnival Photographs by Death to the Stock Photo (license)