[Banded Drake]

Ok so i still havent given up on the smoke ..

Here are a few more that i think i am getting closer on . I know that there is still more room to grow but i thought i would share .












please tell me what you think ............ Shawn

[Toad]

I think these are better than the first set, Drake - #2 the best IMO because of its complexity and color variations.

[Polly]

You're definitely getting there imo. I also like the second shot, good shape and good colours.

Pol

[shuttertalk]

Absolutely beautiful, Shawn. #2 is the pick for me... the curls are really interesting, and the sharpness is great this time round.

What did you change?

[Irma]

Great series Shawn.
I also like a lot #2

I wish my day had 36 hours to take all the pictures I want...

[Banded Drake]

thanks yall ,

there will be more coming , i just hope i dont bore yall with these .

ST the main thing that i changed was my lighting , i used my strobe with a cheap snoot on it . I made sure to have plenty of space from the bagkground . And worked on my focus a little harder .the next thing that i think i need to do is shoot with a higher ap ( like f11 or so ) these were shot at f5.6 , but i meterd @ f16, you ask why , the only answer i have is i was in a hurry and forgot to change the f stops. shame on me ..
The other thing i did was stacked 2 incents on top of each other to get more smoke .......

Thanks again yall ....... Shawn

[shuttertalk]

Cool, thanks for explaining the setup...

Forgive my naivety - the colour in the smoke - is that from the incense, or added in later?

[navis01]

Nice one Shawn, definitrly getting there. If you sort out the F stop you are going to have some great images. Never give up mate!

[Banded Drake]

Cool, thanks for explaining the setup...

Forgive my naivety - the colour in the smoke - is that from the incense, or added in later?

The color is added after you invert .

here are the steps again . LOL

auto levels

invert image

curves ( to get rid of some of the spill light )

then i duplicated layer , changed layer to color , painted with my color of choice , then adjusted opacity .

its pretty simple , and fun .

i am glad that yall are liken these .. They are fun .... no worries about me givin up navis i wont i think i am goin to shoot some more tonight . LOL

..... Shawn

[NT73]

Nice ones BD. If you cut #2 in half the bottom half gives you a cool lady.

[Petographer]

I like them all but not my place to be too critical. I'm not interrested in trying this type of thing but looking at what you've done I'd have to say it is pretty cool. Good work Shawn

[Banded Drake]

thanks NT and Peto ,

i think youll have fun with these Peto , i cant wait to get them right so i can print a few .

....... Shawn

[ABree]

These are so interesting, I like the colours and the way the smoke curls in #2.

Sharon

[Polly]

here are the steps again . LOL

auto levels

invert image

curves ( to get rid of some of the spill light )

then i duplicated layer , changed layer to color , painted with my color of choice , then adjusted opacity .


..... Shawn

Interesting colouring technique. I use the PS colour balance tool for my own smoke pix.

I'm addicted to the colouring process actually. I find it very therapeutic playing with the sliders and blending the various colours in shadows, midtones and highlights.

I'm attaching a screenshot showing how I do it. Moving the sliders across the range gives endless variations .. and this thread has set me off colouring again. I'm an addict, I'm and addict ........ LOL




Pol

[Banded Drake]

Thanks Abree and Polly ,

I think ill try you way next time Polly , I also adjust contrast and brightness , along with a few other things that i see fit .

I may try some more tonight .....

......... Shawn

[navis01]

I tried both techniques and I like the PS colour balance, although I could not reproduce the lovely colour variations. This is quite hard to get right, I nearly smoked myself out of the room trying to get a nice shot! Hope it is OK to post an image to another persons post. Mine seemed to come out very grainy, Shawn you had this problem at all?

[Banded Drake]

I did have the same problem . The way i " fixed it " was . Shooting in a dark room and using my strobes . Polly suggested moving the subject " the smoke " further from the BG . This seemed to work for me too . The other thing is focusing , i think this is harder than the rest , it always seems that the more intersting parts of the smoke are away from where i was focused in on LOL.

All of that to say , I think what you have here is a good start , but all of the elements have to come together ( which i am still working on ) . It looks like you have a good bit of spill light ( is that the right wording ) on your BG and your smoke is either OOF or too thin ( i forgot to say that part earlier ) .

Great first attempt ....... Shawn

[navis01]

Hey Shawn, cool thanks for the tips. That all makes sense considering my setup. I really enjoyed doing this so will be trying again. Look forward to seeing your next attempts. Cheers, Ivan