Have you ever stopped and noticed the interesting designs that smoke trails make when incense is burning or when you move the air around the flame of a candle? Well I have! I find its almost mesmerising to watch and the patterns are always different and unique.
So it’s probably no surprise that taking photos of smoke has been on my list of to do projects for a while. One cold day, I decided to give this a go when I lit up an incense stick. I had already done some research on the setup and suggested camera settings. I’ve read that ideally you should photograph smoke in front of a black background in a dark room with a flash on the side pointing towards the smoke. Even though it was daytime, it was a dark cloudy day and my table wasn’t near the window, so I thought I’d practice anyway.
So here are two of my favourite test shots. I found that I had to focus manually in the area where I was expecting the smoke to drift but of course being unpredictable that it is, it wasn’t always drifting where I expected. This was part of the fun each time I was considering to press the shutter. I also noticed that I had to place the flash in a way to prevent it lighting up the background so it stays as dark as possible.
The settings I used were:
Focal length: 50mm
Aperture: f11
Shutter speed: 1/250 (max flash sync speed)
ISO: 160-200
Part of the fun with photos on smoke trails is the end colour and look. I used Adobe Lightroom for post processing. I mostly focused on increasing the contrast and changed the colour hue for the photos to look different. Of course because I was also practising this during the day, I darkened the background slightly too. I was happy with the final photos considering I was practising this during the daytime.
Remember that if you are taking photos of smoke, be safe by keeping the incense away from anything flammable and keep a window or door open nearby so there is plenty of ventilation in the room.
So if it’s a cold rainy day and you’re looking for something to photograph indoors, why not give this a go for yourself. I hope you have as much fun as I did. No two photos of smoke trails will ever be the same!
Cheers
Georgia
Feeding the Body, Mind & Soul 