Something new to try

For months now I've been intending to try some new indoor photo techniques. I've had lots of bright ideas, but most required equipment I don't have or that would take ages to set up.
Here's an easy one that doesn't take a lot of props and it can produce some interesting images. And it's fun. Maybe not to everyone's taste, but I quite like abstract art.
Here a pic from about a dozen I shot this evening. I'm still learning!
Explanation of technique is below photo. It's not difficult - or I'd never manage it!
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I set up two incense sticks in a clamp (blu-tack would do). With camera on a tripod and lights on I used manual focus to set focus on ends of sticks = where smoke will be. Set camera to "bulb" which keeps shutter open for as long as it's pressed. Lit sticks, turned lights off. Opened shutter and fired a small hand held flash gun at the side and slightly behind the smoke. (If you fire the flash directly at the smoke you'll illuminate the background which you don't want to do. So you can't use a built-in flash).
I tried a torch and small table lamp but results were not good and then I remembered an old cheapo flash gun I had in the shed - it has a test button that fires it.
If you don't have a flash gun you can always use the flash from a second camera if you have one.
Photo was turned into a negative image to turn background white. The prints and full sized original don't show the speckled background and 'grain' in the reduced sized pic above!

 

I quite like the grain on this shot, it adds something to it..I think a vignette would also work well with it.

Have you tried lighting the smoke with a coloured LED torch? You get some cracking effects with that. I did one early part of last year and made a tryptych from it...must try to find and post it.

You'll have to have a go at dripping water next..:D

Steve...

 

I can remember doing stuff like this back in the good old chemical days.
I had more heath robinson bits of kit than I care to mention and then had to wait until I developed and printed... Happy days.. Glad to say its a lot easier with the digital equipment we have these days.
Great work Dave
robert

 

Steve - I did have a try with a torch but it wasn't all that effective could be because like me it's a bit dim:D I also had a try with a laser pointer.
It was an article in PhotoPlus magazine about smoke and tripychs that finally spurred me into action. I think I'll have a go at creating one once I've got my smoke generation perfected! Dripping water pics are on the 'to do' list, but I still need to gather/build a bit more equipment.

Robert - I used to have a heap of Heath Robinson equipment too. My photo-floods were made from an old aluminium tea pot with the base cut out with a big croc-clip as a clamp and also and old aluminium frying pan! I used 110 volt bulbs (free from work).