Added: 2 years ago
From: PhotoGavin
Views: 218,878
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (200)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • Three other tips:

    1. Turn off your smoke detector before the photo session.

    2. Turn your smoke detector on again after the photo session

    3. If you don't have a smoke detector, you should leave your computer immediately and go buy a smoke detector.

  • @YngveH8

    Awesome tips man! :D I've been changing batteries today :D

  • Amazing!

    

  • what if we dont have a flash?can we use a lamp??thanks

  • Excellent video Gavin, will definitely give this a try.

  • Parang timang. Thanks!

  • Bless you, mr Hooey, you have truly given me insight and confidence. Thank you so much

  • Pixar. ^^

  • is a flash gun important? D: dont have it

  • @liarXliar1 if you dont have it then the alternative would be a lamp like the one in the video, but the lamp may have a impact on the colour of the smoke, but the flashgun is ideal

  • What canon camera model are you using for this shot and what flash are you using?

  • hi gavin my birthday is coming up soon and i am allowed a flash for my canon 5d (mk1) and i was wondering if you could recommend a good flash for me

    not too exspensive

  • @moviemyles100

    how much are u willing to spend?

  • @utubekhiladi 150 quid

  • How did u colored the smoke???!,,,,,or let me ask how to color the Smoke with lighting?

  • V.N :)

    i'll try to do it )

  • Thank you, Gavin. I from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This tip is simple with amazing results!!! I tried with some modifications and put some pictures in flicker (flickr.com/photos/eniosoares/­sets/72157627857306070/). I´ll try to do the splash with drops. Good work, my friend!

  • i use a different technique to this..if you dont have the sync and the stand......Tripod ur camera and manual focus an area, very dark room, set the exposure to slow speed 3-5 seconds, then press sutter release, and use the flashgun to light up smoke when you think your ready (while the shutter is open (onyl manually flash the rising smoke once!!! )) then when your shutter close...BAM you have a smoke photo

  • great video thanks :)

    

  • I tried this with a steaming cow turd, worked a treat.

  • I really like your videos, I want to ask, can one use a cheap external flash like a Yongnuo, Vivitar or something like that for this kind of photography and use it with a long cable instead of the wireless???

  • can you just use pop up flash here?

  • Excellent

  • Which lens is being used?

  • I love these tutorials, def the best of on Youtube

  • i use the same camera!

  • What is the name the thing that what exhaust fumes?

  • RE: is flash gun necessary....side/back light needed for illumination. back light doesn't work here as it will spill into camera. gun stops action due to >power vs. focusing lamp.

  • could tell what the use of flash in this video. thanks :)

  • @christiangallery He uses the flash in order to freeze the movement of the smoke on the picture. Without flash, he might have to decrease the shutter speed to allow enough light to come in the camera but this slow shutter speed might cause the moving smoke to be blurry.

  • @zmiassor correct, but also remember that you need to light the smoke. The table lamp is a focusing aid: on shooting it's mostly overpowered by the flashgun (it's very close, 1/2 power). A bright light helps to keep the background pitch black (spill has to be blocked).

    Another _very important_ thing, when doing flash photography is that flash duration becomes effectively your shutter time: portable flashes have shorter flash duration when used at _low_ power.Studio heads work the other way round

  • High tech system such as a rubber band... Nice tutorial Gavin...

  • tried this and it turned out great!

  • How did you found out about all the photography you do? Did you study photography?

  • you did a fantastic job with this video.. great job, i am going to try this out this weekend and your attention to detail is much appreciated.

  • how do yuo make them differend colours? srry but i wasnt listening all the time  ^^

  • @patrysmaj CRTL + U in photoshop will 'colorize' a photo. but its only going to work well if the background is black enough.

  • @legendarysim thx ^^

  • @patrysmaj np

  • what you have in your kit bag Georgy boy?

  • Comment removed

  • If you dont have any thing nice to say dont say it at all

    i think this is awesome :)

  • So far your smoke photography is the best and most comprehensive I've seen.. and it's very inspiring... in fact I tried your set-up and came up with promising results.. in the absence of a flash gun ( I must get one sooner)... this is just to congratulate you Keep up the good works...

  • So that's where my phone's background comes from...

  • studios are gay,you are gay

  • It would be great if your videos are subtitled/captioned. Would this be possible?

  • what do you think of manual focussing with a tripod?

  • @oSCRIPTo thats a must in smoke photography !! or unless ur a guy who likes making his life har :P :)

  • @oSCRIPTo what about using a flash on a tripod with manual settings? ^^

  • Thanks for this one, i had loads of fun on my first attempt to photograph smoke. This is definitely something i will do again and again! Next up is to try your way of photographing waterdrops :)

  • @PhotoGavin what camera is you using? is it eos 5d ore something?

    Please answer, thank you

  • @ Gavin,

    I don't have a flash gun, how strong the light on the side needs to be? I tried using a a 40watt table lamp, warm light. It turned out very dark and can't see the smoke. I have tried adjusting the f. no and apperture as well, but still under exposed.

  • @bummer4451 you will never get a desk lamp strong enough unless you have something like a 500w hot light or something along those lines. The amount of light that a flash puts out is massive compared the the amount of light a common desk lamp puts out. The sensor in a camera needs much more light the out eyes need to work

  • HELLO THERE!

    If i purchase a Canon Speedlight 430 to go with my Rebel Xs, will the flash work off-camera without any kind of additional hardware? ie. Remote triggers ect.

  • it is easier to focus on the tip of the candle and have an aperture around f8-11 which is good enough to get crisp details of the smoke around the stick since it will be roughly around the same point..thus eliminating the need for the table lamp..

  • Gavin, once again you amaze me with your great videos. I save them to my "Favorites" when I feel I can learn more from them. Thanks!

  • Gavin, love your tutorials, keep it up. Just wondering if there is an effective way to capture smoke photos without a flash.

  • thambs up from cold Russia

  • do you think that a snoot can work also as a replacement for a barn door?

  • I tried this for the first time today. Thanks so much for your tutorial!

  • can i ask ? i used Nikon D3000 what do u think a cool setting for me and stock lens... thanks

  • do you need a flash gun?

  • I am going to try to answer some questions posted below me:

    @blastmeoff A flashgun isn't always neccessary, depending on what kind of photography you are aiming for. For nature and landscape photography it may be kinda useless!

    @rocka94 The light on the left is for the camera to focus on the smoke. The light is not strong enough to illuminate the smoke, so thats why he used a flashgun.

    @ChazFoulstone I bet he is using a Canon EOS 400D on this video!

  • what is the main purpose of flash gun? i mean you use table lamp right? thanks

  • my bro was smokin a blunt.... nd i phonto shopped it... its hella cool..... i photo shopped the smoke.... do u want to see it?

  • my bro was smokin a blunt.... nd i phonto shopped it... its hella cool..... i photo shopped the smoke.... do u want to see it?

  • my bro was smokin a blunt.... nd i phonto shopped it... its hella cool

  • awesome man, thanks!

  • awesome!

  • I just started photography not too long ago, i was wondering is the flashgun really necessary? will the photo be different without the flash gun?

  • @blastme0ff the flash is needed to light the smoke, the desk lamp won't provide enough light for the camera to take a photo off, it is only for focusing. There are some cheap second hand strobes out there and every photographer should have at least 1 flash - or 3. Hope this helps

  • @blastme0ff it rlly depends on what your shooting. You could do shots like this w/o a flash. However. You would need to invest a large amount of $ on a faster lens. This is so u don't have any blur in the smoke cuz its bound to be a darker photo. Also his iso is at 100, meaning the noise in the photo should be minimal. It depends what kind of shooting you are doing if u need a flash. but u won't regret having one if u get into photography

  • @blastme0ff I don't know about other situations, but when taking photos of smoke, it really makes a difference. I tried shooting smoke without any flash and It ended up horrible.

  • @BruckThatsMe yea its coz smoke is pretty much transparent ... but the moment light hits it it becomes visible...and the flash is tat light :]

  • @blastme0ff . most likely the image would be blurry or grainy without the flash. either way the picture will be different

  • @blastme0ff The flashgun allows you to freeze the image. without flashgun, you will have to decrease the shutter speed in order to have enough light coming into your camera which will cause the smoke to be blurry (because it is moving)

  • @blastme0ff The flashgun is not needed. I just did this last night and got great shots. I used a simple LED Flashlight you can get at Walgreens and lit the smoke from the bottom up. I did wrap paper around it to focus the light straight up and off the background.

  • you are using a different camera than some of your other videos, cause the setting chooser is on the right instead of left :S

  • music is exotic :D may I learn the song's name plz?

  • Do you need to have a flash from the side? because i dont have one and rather not buy one... so do i need to buy one for these type of photos?

  • @inurdreams16 Just try it with the desk lamp and see what happens. If it's isn't strong enough try adjusting camera settings, increase aperture etc or add more lamps.

  • Can the Nikon SB-600 be used wirelessly? Or do I have to upgrade to the SB-900? If I can use it wirelessly (the SB-600), is there a cheap commander/Pocket Wizard that I can use to wirelessly use the SB-600?

    Your videos are the best!

  • @iSpinify yes the SB600 can be used wirelessly, and if you camera doesn't have commander mode you can look on ebay for cheap wireless triggers.

  • @bilum Thanks for the reply. As far as the flash goes, I own the D60. Will have to research to see if it has a commander mode.

  • @iSpinify D60 doesn't have a commander mode so, I have a D60 as well, you will need a remote trigger, join a photography forum like talkphotography. Excellent advice on there :)

  • @bilum I knew it! :D Thanks for the info. I suppose that I can use the Jiansi remote triggers that Gavin uses in his videos. Definitely going to check out talkphtoography!

  • @bilum Sorry, scratch the Jiansi thing in my last comment. Don't know how that came up.

  • nice vedio.....

  • Great Work !! I think you are great photographer as well as great instructor. Here is question, how did color of smoke changed ?

    Also, I see you are using a radio trigger,, and do you know what is difference between radio trigger you are using and pocket wizard ? Becuase, I'm just consider to getting one but pocket wizrard is quite expensive when compare to cheap trigger and receiver...

    Thank you,

  • Dear Mr. Hoey,,

    I am very impressed with your smoke photography video,however, very dissapointed at your use of old technology. Now come on, elastic bands to hold on the card and matches to light the sticks? .. You could have at least moved on to modern technology that most of us spring chicks are now using ... Adhesive backed velcro and gas lighters. I hope that you in future are going to move with the times.

    Great Video mate, keep them coming.

    Doc

  • no no no no no, i like the way you done it, why buy expensive equipment when you can find cheap alternitives, ok these ones are not expensive but some equipment is well overpriced, if it works then it is all good

  • your art is magnifisent and when im able to get a job like you ill take your advice

  • flickr.com/photos/tierdrama/

    some of my first shots...not sure about the photoshop editing but im learning ;)

  • @TierDrama i loved your photos

    can you please check out mine ? :) flickr.com/photos/madajbr/

  • My photogrpahy skills are sky rocketing thanks to you Gavin ! i owe you big time !

  • howcan it be different colors smoke

  • lovvvvvvveeeeeeee each and every tutorial of you :)))))))))))))

  • do u hav to turn the lamp off while u actually take the photos?

  • can i make nice fotos with 7-8mp digital camera?

  • @imanema

    Yes, its all in the user.

  • is it possible if i don't use any flash? just the table lamp

  • Hye Gavin great work there.....may i ask you wat is the name of that video u did to change the color of the smoke?....thanks

  • hey great videos- im a commercial photographer of about 6 years and i still find i learn bits and bobs from them- also great for beginners- I wish i had this kind of help when I first started!!

  • nice tutorial!

  • Thank you very much for your help and learning

  • beautiful shot

  • Hi, I really like this idea...

    awesome, Is there some alternative light that is to the flash gun?

    and what fabric is the black background?

    Great tutorial

  • Thanks Gavin... you really are one of the best. You answered all my questions about how they took those smokes... really appreciated the effort. thanks a bunch. -Emman

  • this is such an awesome video, bought my wireless flash trigger over the weekend and tried it today and got some great results :) tried some gels on the flash to get the colours straight off. also moved on to try this same technique with portraits of smoking people, still ironing out the creases but when i get it right i will post a video. Cheers for sharing man!

  • I was wondering if my camera can do this (Nikon D3000) with this light setup :/

  • very nice...will give it a shot!

  • i dont have a flash gun. :[ how much do they usually cost?

  • @takoyakiotabemashita

    I picked up an old Jessops home brand flashgun for £3! from london camera exchange in nottingham, works perfectly with my digital camera, film camera and also my wireless flash triggers (I use a Strobies 4 channel radio trigger set, cost me £45 for the trigger and reciever). Altho the flash doesnt have many features (like any kind of power adjustments) it still works perfectly for this project. guna save up and get a nice canon speedlight at some point though :)

  • @takoyakiotabemashita

    I picked up an old Jessops home brand flashgun for £3! from london camera exchange in nottingham, works perfectly with my digital camera, film camera and also my wireless flash triggers (I use a Strobies 4 channel radio trigger set, cost me £45 for the trigger and reciever). Altho the flash doesnt have many features (like any kind of power adjustments) it still works perfectly for this project. guna save up and get a nice canon speedlight at some point though :)

  • can you photo this if you don't have a flash ?

  • thanks gavin!

  • genius

  • Do you keep the lamp on while taking the pictures using the strobe? or do you just use it to get your focal point and then turn it off? thanks! great tutorial

  • What wireless system do you use???

  • PHOTTIX® TETRA Wireless

    I've one ;)

  • Thanks! I purchased one from fotodiox.

  • Love this tutorial....wish I had found you sooner! Will this work even if I don't have an external flash?

  • i tried it and it came out ok :)

  • i like your tutorials and jolly spirit

  • what is the lense that you are using in this video? will you have a tutorial about the lenses you use? thanks

  • The lens is a Canon 24-105L. Sorry, no plans to do a "what's in my kit bag" style video.

  • @PhotoGavin Why? The "whats in my bag" videos have help me decide on some of my lens choices. I find them very helpful and a great guideline for people starting out in photography

  • @PhotoGavin :( still great videos much appreciated

  • @PhotoGavin if you want a tip on how to focus the beam of light, google "black straw snoot" and theres a few DIY instructions on creating a honeycomb grid out of black drinking straws.

  • @buzz4ward get that lens, its awesome.. I have 1 they rock, probably the most versatile lens I have ever bought- works best with full frame

  • This may be a dumb question.....but I'll ask anyways. I noticed that in your video, when u spliced in the still shots of the smoke, some were red, greenish, blue, etc. Why? It seems as all of the light sources are a constant color (the flash, the desk lamp, etc). What is causing that really cool color effect? Thanks for your help!

  • The answer is Photoshop and you'll find EXACTLY how it's done on one of my videos.

  • @FerrariJT You can also use coloured gels or even sweetie wrappers over the flash to make the smoke coloured all in-camera :)

  • will it work without a flash?

  • i really love your videos !^^ thx so much

  • Thank you for this video and all the others your videos, I have learned so much, thank you!

  • hello i was wondering if theres a way to do this without the flash gun? can you just use another light?

  • @gabby1624 it is kind of hard since what is really stopping the smoke is the flash shutter speed.

  • you can direct a spotlight towards the smoke but you will need a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the motion. you can try and get the room calm to minimize air and wind... but i'm sure even the pop up flash can help

  • Hello,

    I was wondering what kind of wireless trigger device you are using?

    I have a Nikon D90 and a SB-600 flash. They work together wireless but in order for it to work I need to have the built-in flash popped up. I made a IR panel to block the flash coming from the camera onto the subject but would like something that doesn't require it.

  • That was a PT-04. In the Nikon menu you can turn the flash gun off and still have it work as a commander. There is a video somewhere on Youtube (not by me) that shows how it's done.

  • @mikeschmeee you can set the internal flash to " -- " in the comander mode. that way it will not effect the exposure of your image in anyway.

  • Your work is amazing, thank you for inspiring me to do fun stuff.

  • nag champa smell good

  • Is the flash gun compatible with nikons? I'm buying one on eBay and realized I might of bought the wrong thing

  • Nope, that's a Canon flash gun so it's compatible with any Nikon camera's hot shoe, but....

    ... If you're using the same type of wireless trigger I used in the video, then you'll be fine.

  • Thanks!

  • Gosh, this video is so soothing and beautiful. You are an excellent presenter by the way. And really good at what you do.

  • what camera and lens is this? can u tell me the flash model as well? ty for this tutorial!

  • thanks a lot :o its awesome, i will try it out :o

    don't have a flashgun, and i don't really know what that is. but i have a lamp to try a bit ;)

  • a flash gun is an off camera flash :)

  • nag champa incense ftw!

  • i hate the smell of those things.. but what you can do.

  • what flash gun are you using for the smoke phoography

  • I just wanted to know if you were using a macro lens to photograph the smoke or just any standard one.

  • Awesome video! I just ordered a flash stand + Pocketwizards and I can't wait to try this.

  • Great tutorial! I need to try this once I purchase a flash.

  • wow ur gud photgraper god wat a inspiration ^^!

  • hi gav!

    big fan!

    where did you get that flash gun!

    keep up the work

    Max

  • Also : Try using rechargable batteries, they recharge faster between each pop of the flash, and its better for the environment. Get the flash as close as you can, and set the flash power as low as you can. Lower power means faster flashes of light from your flashgun, which in turn makes sharper images.

    Great video Gavin!

  • hi gavin, just wondering if you can use a barndoor for this work or will it be to much light.keep up the good work

  • Barndoors would work very well indeed.

  • its my first comment on you tube,

    you explain with such perfection..

    great to learn from you...

  • you should try a tape measure and a depth-of-field chart then you can dial in pinpoint focus..

  • Could this be done without a flash?

  • Yes, but it's not so easy. Think 1000w lamps.

  • Thanks

  • Great video,,,

  • wow wonderful video :) plus subscribe to you..

  • can i get a smoke shot using digital camera ?

    i'm using Panasonic Lumix DMC-F3

  • Hey Gavin, great tips! I was wondering what flash gun that is, I've noticed you use it a few times in your videos?

  • great vid. but what lens were you using for there particular shots?

  • It's a canon 24-105L on a Canon 400D body