smoke fog effects is8 2012

Photographers often turn to smoke and fog for impressive effects,whether for a steaming coffee in a food shot or spectacular clouds ofswirling mist surrounding a rock band on stage. Here we explain themost common methods of producing these types of effects and walkthrough some practical examples to show you how to create your own.ˇ

Cyrill Harnischmacher

How to Create and Photograph

Smoke and Fog Effects

83

The difference between smoke and steam iseasily explained: smoke consists primarily ofthe products of combustion, i.e., solidparticles, whereas steam consists of very finedroplets of liquid. In either case, the tinyparticles reflect light as it strikes them, andthus become visible.

There are several ways of creating smokeor steam in the studio, but not every kind ofsmoke or steam is equally suitable for allpurposes. The amount produced and theintensity vary greatly, as do the appearance,behavior and length of time that the effectlasts. The best method to use will depend onthe subject and the effect you want to create.Chance affects the results too, so you willusually have to take a series of photos in orderto achieve ythe desired result.

Fog Machines and Hazers

The classic stage prop that we are all familiarwith from discos and parties is the fogmachine, which works by vaporizing a special‘fog fluid’. Even small machines have arelatively powerful output, which makes themunsuitable for low-key effects like a steamingcup of coffee. They are more suited tolarge-scale applications, such as producingfog for a stage or filling a whole room. Theeffects can be very impressive, especially ifyou shoot using colored flash.

You can pick up a fog machine quitecheaply online or from events suppliers andmusic stores.

Hazers are a special type of fog machinethat create a fine haze rather than thick fog.

They are used in stage shows to fill the entirestage area with haze so as to make the beamsof light from the stage lighting visible. You canachieve a similar effect in a home studio byusing a fog machine and blowing the fogaround to fill the space.

Dry Ice

If you want your fog to really billow, dry ice isyour best bet, although can be difficult toobtain and store. Dry ice is actually carbondioxide (CO2). At -78.5 degrees Celsius, itchanges from a solid state directly into a gas.The CO2 gas thus created is heavier than airand sinks to the ground.

Dry ice is particularly useful in situationsthat require the fog to remain close to thesubject, or you want to use it in a targetedfashion to cover a small area. Since this typeof fog sinks, it does not work too well tosimulate hot food, but is great if you arephotographing themes such as a chemistrylab or fantasy scenes.

Dry ice comes in the form of pellets orblocks. Because it has to be kept frozen atextremely low temperatures, it cannot bestored for long, and you can only keep it fortwo to three days before it literally vanishesinto thin air. Consult your local telephonedirectory to find a supplier. You can also buydry ice online, but bear in mind that if youorder five kilos with a two-day deliveryschedule, you will end up with only about twokilos of product.

If you plan to use dry ice, read the safetyinstructions very carefully and wearappropriate protective equipment, includinggloves and safety glasses.

To make fog, pick up a few clumps of dryice with a spoon and put them into a

Smoke and Fog Effects | Introduction

Creating Smoke and Steam

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Here, the fog machinewas placed behind themetal screen andactivated just once,shortly before theexposure

60 mm | f16 | 1/200 s | ISO 100

A small fog machinedoes not cost a lot andcan be used to createsome really interestingeffects in the studio

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Smoke and Fog Effects | Sources

Hazers create a fine mistthat makes beams of lightvisible on stage withoutobscuring the action

28 mm | f6.3 | 1/20 s | ISO 160

Just add a little dryice to water tintedwith food coloringand hey presto – youhave a deliciouswitches’ brew

60 mm | f18 | 1/160 s |ISO 100


container, then pour some warm water overthem. Alternatively, add a lump of dry ice tosome warm water – the effect is the same.

Smoke Tablets

No, we’re not talking about products to helpyou give up smoking, but rather about acommonly used method of detecting cracksin industrial buildings. Smoke tablets are alsoused to create spectacular vapor trails atmodel airplane shows. Most tablets burn forup to two minutes and produce about fourcubic meters of smoke, making themunsuitable for studio photography. They arebetter kept for outdoor use – for example,when photographing musicians.

Be careful if you are using large-scaleeffects, as some types of smoke or artificial fogwill trigger any nearby smoke alarms! It’s agood idea to let neighbors know what you aredoing before you start a shoot, not only toprevent undue concern, but also to avoid thefire brigade getting called out on a false alarm.

Tobacco and Incense Sticks

Burning a little tobacco in a tea light holder isa great way of generating small amounts oftargeted smoke. The smoke rises quickly,creating a thin plume of smoke that is notparticularly suitable for creating large-scaleeffects but is ideal for enhancing small details.If you don’t like the smell of tobacco smoke,try incense sticks or cones instead. Tobaccooften has a slight blue cast, but this is easilyremoved later during processing, usually byreducing saturation.

Vapor Effect

Photographic accessory stores stock atwo-component product that is often used infood and still life photography. The chemical

reaction that occurs when you mix the twoliquids produces very photogenic plumes ofvapor. The liquids can be used in very precisequantities and here too, it is important toobserve the manufacturer’s safetyinstructions.

Smoke Generators

Model railway enthusiasts use tiny smokegenerators to simulate the steam from alocomotive. This is done by filling thegenerator with ‘smoke oil’ and heating it with

an electric coil. In photo studios, thesegenerators come in very handy for producingsmall amounts of smoke in just the right place.

Steam

In food photography, a popular way ofsimulating the heat of hot food is to use watervapor – hardly surprisingly, since that isexactly what does waft up from a bowl of hotsoup! What is tricky, however, is getting watervapor to stay in the right place at exactly theright time.



SMOKE AND STEAM GENERATORSDescription and uses Source Price Notes

Hazers Wide-area haze on stage or in a photo studio Music retailers, event suppliers From US$75 –

Fog machines Wide-area smoke on stage or in a photo studio. Sometimes also for tabletop use.

Music retailers, event suppliers From US$40 –

Incense sticks/cones Targeted smoke for tabletop and food photography Fair Trade shops, Christmas markets, etc. From US$1 –

Smoke generators Targeted fine smoke produced using ‘smoke oil’ Modelmaking shops From US$30 Age restrictions may apply

Smoke oil Targeted fine smoke produced using smoke generators Modelmaking shops From US$10 Age restrictions may apply

Smoke tablets Intense smoke effects for outdoor use when large amounts are re-quired. Also available colored.

Specialist pyrotechnics stockists From US$15 Age restrictions apply

Tobacco Targeted smoke for tabletop and food photography Tobacconists About US$10 Age restrictions apply

Dry ice Fog that sinks to the ground for partial and wide-area fog effects Specialist suppliers, consult directory From about US$45 Note safety instructions. Limited storageperiod.

Vapor effect Targeted smoke for tabletop photography Specialist pyrotechnics stockists, photography accessories retailers

About US$40 Liquids can be corrosive

Steam Fine, delicate steam, ideal for simulating hot food. Effect does not last long.

Available in any home – Very cheap but not very intense

Tobacco, model railway ‘smoke oil’ and incense cones or sticks are all you need toproduce a range of tabletop smoke effects

Smoke and steam only become fully visiblewhen illuminated using flash. The best resultsare achieved using targeted lateral light andas dark a background as possible. Whitesmoke against a white background isobviously not the best setup. If a darkbackground is not possible for whateverreason, try to position darker parts of yoursubject so that the smoke or steam rises infront of them and therefore remains visible.

Pure Smoke

Let’s concentrate for a while on appreciatingthe inherent beauty of smoke. The fascinatingshapes that come from a candle immediately

after it has been extinguished are worthlooking at more closely. The smoke is swirledabout as the warm air rises and the air aroundit moves, forming new, unpredictablepatterns. Sometimes it rises in a fine, thinthread and sometimes as a sumptuous‘bloom’. Often the shapes seem to be regularor symmetrical, but then, in the twinkling ofan eye, they disappear. Like snowflakes,smoke patterns are unique.

The methods described below can beapplied to just about any photographicproject that uses smoke or steam.

All you need is a candle or a few incensesticks, an accessory flash, two pieces of blackcard, a black background and a darkenedroom. A normal accessory flash set to ¼ power

will provide sufficient light to shoot at ISO 100and f8.

The black card is used to shape the beamof light into a thin strip. This way, thebackground stays truly black and no straylight reaches the lens. The ‘hard’ lateral lightthis creates is ideally suited to photographingsmoke. The flash is fired either using a synccord or a remote trigger.

First, mount the camera on a stable tripod,then pre-focus on the subject – in our case,the candle. The constantly changing contrastwill confuse autofocus, so keep it switched off.Set your camera to manual exposure mode.

Set the exposure time to match the flash sync speed quoted by your camera’smanufacturer and take a few test shots at f8 to

Smoke and Fog Effects | Technique

Practical Applications

‘X-ray’60 mm | f7 | 1/50 s | ISO 100, reduced saturation

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Corkscrew60 mm | f7 | 1/50 s | ISO 100, reduced saturation

check whether the images are properly lit orwhether you need to increase flash output.

The most spectacular smoke trails arecreated at the moment the candle flame isblown out and the wick is still glowing, or, inthe case of a cigarette or an incense stick,when the flame goes out after you have lit it.Using a remote release eliminates the need torush back to the camera after extinguishingthe flame and helps you concentrate oncapturing the best smoke trails.

Smoke reacts to even the tiniest airmovements and you can exploit this to createamazing shapes – but take care to block draftsand avoid making quick movements as thesecause the air around the subject to eddy andspoil the natural shapes. With practice, you’lldevelop a feel for how to move your handback and forth to make different smokedesigns. Another interesting variation is to usesudden small movements to make incensesticks produce smoke rings.

This is the time to let your imagination andinstinct for play run wild. Interpreting theshapes of the results and seeing what shapethey are, finding faces in them and givingthem names can be a lot of fun. In the photosbelow, the two on the left were created usinga candle and the ones on the right using anincense cone.


Statue of Liberty torch 60 mm | f7 | 1/50 s | ISO 100

You don’t always need studioflash. Here, two pieces of

black card shape were used toshape the light beam from a

single accessory flash.


Lady in evening gown 60 mm | f7 | 1/50 s | ISO 100

Ionic column 60 mm | f7 | 1/50 s | ISO 100

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A beauty dish with a honeycomb filter produces ‘hard’ lateral light. Two pieces ofblack card were used to shape the light beam and prevent any stray light fromspoiling the overall effect.

A burning cigarette stub is hidden in the barrel of a pistol. Non-smokers may prefer to use incense sticks or cones.

Smoking Pistol

In this example, we used burning tobacco toproduce the smoke. We set up thecomposition, lighting and props so that thelantern’s flame was reflected in the knifeblade. After several trial runs and severalchecks on the monitor, we set up the versionwith the smoke using tweezers to carefullyplace a burning cigarette stub into the barrel



of the pistol. The key to composing this imagewas allowing enough space for the smoke toact as a central visual element.

We used a beauty dish with a honeycombfilter to produce targeted lateral light thathelped the smoke to show up against the blackbackground as a thin, contoured trail. Toprevent stray light from spoiling the scene, we

used black card to shape our light source.Instead of using the manufacturer’srecommended flash sync speed, we used alonger (¼ s) exposure so that the warm lightfrom the lantern could create a golden glow. Ina situation like this, the room has to be almostcompletely dark to prevent ambient light fromspoiling the mood of the shot.

Here, instead of using the standard flashsync speed, we used a long exposure of¼s to allow the warm light of the lanternto emphasize the mood of the scene. Wethen used an additional flash to ‘freeze’the movement of the smoke trail

40 mm | f13 | 1/4 s | ISO 100

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Hot CoffeeHere too, we used tobacco, this time tosimulate the steam coming off a hot coffee.Strictly speaking, we should have used real steam from hot water, but this cannot bepositioned as precisely and does not produceas intense a result. To make the tobacco smoke

look more like steam, we used an accessoryflash with a strip-light to produce targeted butsoft light. This makes the steam from thecoffee look a little softer and makes it spreadout a little more than the smoke from ourflintlock pistol. A second accessory flash with

a red filter was placed beneath the subject toproduce the color gradient on the blackbackground.

To make the coffee cup appear to float, wefixed it to a metal bracket using hot-meltadhesive. This type of glue hardens very



Smoke and steam show up particularlywell against dark backgrounds

50mm, f6.7, 1/180s, ISO160

quickly and is easy to remove from mostmaterials. In our example, we used severalsmall blobs of glue to fix the cup in place forsome test shots, before applying largeamounts of glue to keep the setup stable whilewe shot the final version of the photo.

We painted the bracket with matte blackacrylic paint to keep it from reflecting in theshiny saucer. During post-processing, wealso removed a few final reflections andused the Dodge tool to emphasize thesmoke a little.

Most of our images looked really goodstraight from the camera, but a little post-processing in Photoshop can alwaysmake them even better. We duplicatedthe original background layer andswitched the new layer’s blending modefrom Normal to Screen. The intensity ofthe smoke trail can then be intensified byaltering the layer’s opacity.

Partial corrections can be made usingthe Dodge tool with its Highlightssetting. With tobacco and incensesmoke, it is often necessary to preventcolor casts by reducing saturation usingthe Sponge tool.

After a while, you will build up a ‘smokearchive’ that you can use to add smokeeffects to other images.

To do this, select an appropriate smokeshot, place it on a new layer above thebackground layer and switch theblending mode to Screen. You can nowposition the smoke trail anywhere youlike. The only prerequisite for producingseamless smoke montages is that thesmoke itself is photographed in front of acompeltely black background.

Image Processing

The ‘coffee’ emphasizes the movement of the cup, and is actually made of shinyblack foil set at a slight angle and fixedin place with a few drops of glue. A pieceof burning cigarette was dropped intothe cup through the opening at the sidejust before the shot was taken so thatthe smoke from the cigarette wafted up like steam from a hot cup of coffee.

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Hot Soup

This is another shot for which it is reallyimportant to get everything (especially thelighting) set up correctly before starting toshoot. In order to prevent the ingredients fromsinking to the bottom of the soup, we built theit up layer by layer from the bottom.

The first step was to mix some of the soupwith a couple of packets of gelatin and pour itinto the bowl. We filled the bowl just enoughso that we could see the soup through theviewfinder. This layer then served as a basefor the rest of our soup model. Placing thegelatin soup in the refrigerator acceleratedthe cooling process, and we placed a saucer

over the bowl to prevent dust from settlinginto the liquid.

Once our gelatin layer was set, we soakedthe noodles in hot water for about 10 minutesand, once they had cooled, arranged themwith the vegetables, mushrooms and herbs ontop of the gelatin base. We then added a ladleof (still runny) soup until the ingredients weretwo-thirds covered with liquid.

The next step involved boiling a largepotato, which served as our source of steam.We placed the potato behind the soup bowlwhere it couldn’t be seen and cut it open justbefore we made our exposure. Steam from a

hot potato looks realistic in flash light or inlong exposures but dissipates quickly,making it necessary to work fast. We used asheet of paper to gently waft the steamtoward the bowl to make it appear to riseform the soup itself.

In our example, the soup bowl was lit fromthe left using light from a strip-light that weshaped using black card. A second flash with aspot attachment was set up at the same heightas the rising steam. We also used several smallmirrors to delicately reflect the light from theflashes onto the mushrooms to the right of the bowl and we used a piece of white card

The hot potato was positioneddirectly behind the bowl to prevent itfrom appearing in the final image

The ingredients look totally natural suspended ingelatin and do not sink to the bottom of the bowl.Since virtually no liquid is visible in the final image,no-one will notice that the soup is a little too grainy.Perfectionists can always filter the soup and use abrush to paint some soap-based foam around theedges of the bowl.

positioned to the right to highlight the shapeof the bowl.

Instead of a potato, you can use a bowl of hot water to produce a similar effect. Ifyou have space, you can also use a smallhotplate and a saucepan of water, which willprovide a steady supply of steam for muchlonger.

Steam is just as unpredictable as smokeand fog and you will need to spend quite a bit of time experimenting until you come up with the best way to arrange thesubject, background, lighting and smokesource to produce the effect you are

looking for. Always take as many shots aspossible so you can select the best whenyou are done.

Perseverance during a shoot will berewarded not just with a learning experiencebut also with spectacular photos. Even usedsparingly, steam and smoke are powerfulvisual signals and immediately trigger anynumber of associations in the viewer’s mind.

The result is exactly what thephotographer intended: a single image thattells a whole story. (anm) c



Most of the steam from the potato lies outside the very limited area of focus. We wafted it forward using a sheet of paper to ensure that it appeared above and not just behind the bowl.

60 mm | f6.3 | 1/200 s | ISO 200

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