Source for smoke / dust?

<p>I’m planning a tabletop studio shot that will include a light beam from a small flashlight (the kind you

wave around as you stumble from the campfire to the tent, not a strobe) that’s positioned just out of sight

above the scene. The background will be dark seamless paper.</p>

 

<p>Obviously, for the beam to be visible, there must be smoke or dust or something-or-other in the air. I

don’t want the smoke visible, just the beam, so there shouldn’t be too much of it.</p>

 

<p>What can I use as a source for the smoke?</p>

 

<p>I’d rather not use anything that’ll stink up the house, but I’ll put up with that if it’s

something that’ll go away by opening up some windows.</p>

 

<p>I’ve thought of dry ice, but it seems like that would produce much more smoke than I’d want.

I’ve thought of incense, but I don’t want visible tendrils. And I’ve thought of tossing dust into

the air just before releasing the shutter, but I’m not sure I’ve got that kind of coordination (especially since I’m tentatively planning on using a long lens).</p>

 

<p>Any suggestions? How would this be done for “real”?</p>

 

<p>Thanks,</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

<p>What about a piece of translucent plastic in the shape of the beam? Like, a piece of transparent acetate roughed up enough to be a little reflective? You would need to disguise attachment and anchoring; and, the quality of it would have a lot to do with the setup itself; but, it would not involve any smoke, and be very cheap to use. Since it would be static, it might offer you an advantage in that you would not have to race against time. You might be able to tinker with it as much as you wanted to get the shot right.</p>

<p>If you don't do that right, though, it might look as campy as a really bad sci-fi movie.</p>

<p>One of the ideas I would spitball would be a thin strip of roughed up acetate, with a backing of intermittent Christmas tree tinsel; that shiny aluminum thread stuff. It might only need to go as long as it takes to suggest the beam of light. Depends. Maybe even a broken guitar string would do it. They have bronze coatings. Might be a good layer.</p>

<p>It seems to me that not wanting the vapor visible might rule out very fine dusts.</p>

<p>One panel of glass with a very thin strip of etched frosting across the face might do it; but this would be a beefier version of the acetate bit.</p>

<p>I have never done this, but if the setup is small; maybe more of what you want to do is show the beam of light; and less of it as <em>requiring</em> smoke or vapor.</p>

<p>By thin piece of acetate, what I'm imagining would be a long, thin triangle; maybe a max of 1cm across the shortest side, and as long as you need to show the line of the beam. Could maybe build this out of clear packing tape. The adhesive would be helpful in getting it anchored (tape will stick to itself better than anything, though); the adhesive part might help you affix other items to adjust the appearance of the reflectivity; a trail of talcum powder, or the tinsel, or whatever.</p>

<p>Sorry, that's the best I could come up with. Packing tape and a razor knife to cut the strip with. Maybe some tinsel, powder or paper added in. Watch the campy factor.</p>

<p>If whatever it is you use to show the beam casts a shadow itself or has an obvious edge, you'll blow the illusion. Those shadows might be a good reason to avoid a big mass of aerosol dusts, if you make the photo with strobe; you could end up with the dry land equivalent of backscatter shadows.</p>

<p>I'm hoping more people will weigh in on this, I've had a similar little project in mind. I have a deer skull and some antlers, wanted to set it on a glass plate, lit from below, and want some smoke or "mist" to put together a spooky shot. I have an empty greenhouse out in the backyard where I can play around with this stuff, so don't have to stink up the house. I was also thinking coat hanger wires to suspend the objects with the smoke drifting up around. At the moment it's the ideas that are drifting, still trying to visualize how to set this up.</p>

<p>You can rent smoke machines (atomized glycerine or glycol). Try a party warehouse or even a studio photography supply store.</p>

<p>If you incline the reflective object slightly, relative to the axis of illumination (the beam path) so that the farther side of the beam is closer to center; you may be able to use that angle of inclination to adjust the appearance of the length of illumination down the reflective surface. </p>

<p>If you don't build some kind of tangible model to show the path, then you are going to have to shoot through some kind of media, which will create its own problems.</p>

<p>John, I know my model-building skills, and I have no doubt that even my best attempt would

look like a bad ’50^{<small><u>s</u>}</small> science fiction flick. I’m sure I could have

fun with it, but the end result wouldn’t be what I’m visualizing.</p>

 

<p>Evan, thanks for the tip on smoke machines. I’m not looking for a layer of ground-hugging smoke like you’d see in the forest in a horror movie or bubbling over a witches’s cauldron, but just enough to make a light

beam visible when shone through it. Can you control the machines to that extent?</p>

 

<p>Rose-Marie, I hope the two of us can get somebody to help us out….</p>

 

<p>Thanks all,</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

<p>Ben, smoke machines can be messy but will give you the most authentic look.</p>

<p>The fluid is heated and the smoke is released under pressure by a switch. It will rise due to its elevated temperature; ground-hugging smoke is cooled through optional heat exchangers.</p>

<p>The smoke is not easily controlled, but for your application, one can easily fill a small room or a container with smoke and wait for it to equalize. Small machines are available at Walmart around Halloween for about $30. Here's a picture I made with such a machine:<br>

<a href="../photo/5047053">http://www.photo.net/photo/5047053</a></p>

<p>For one time use, you can buy a bottle of glycol dripped on the hot plate of a common clothes iron. It'll be cludgy but cheap to try.</p>

<p>Hot plate on high and a beaker/glass or better yet, custard dish, with a few fingers of water in the bottom of it. Then a variable fan set on very low to blow the steam in the right direction, all this just off camera.</p>

<p>It probably wont give you a hard, super solid beam, but I'd bet it'll work for you pretty well.</p>

<p>Michael, that picture is wonderful! I’m going for a decidedly different mood, but I see

enough in there that I’m pretty sure I can adapt your setup to my purposes. For those who

haven’t followed the link, do so — not just for the picture, but the extended discussion of

what went into it. A must-read, I should think.</p>

 

<p>Matthew, I’m thinking your setup with Michael’s glycol might be what I’m

looking for. Sounds like I can do the whole thing on the cheap with a quick trip to the drug store, which

is exactly what I was hoping for.</p>

 

<p>Thanks, all!</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

<p>Many years ago I wanted to show the light beam from a scale model diesel engine in a night scene. I held a translucent drinking straw in front of the light on the model during the exposure, moved the end of it around a bit to simulate the diffusion of the light as it spread out. I did it using slide film and didn't take many photos, it would be a whole lot simpler these days using digital.</p>

<p> </p>

A cigarette ?

<p>Bob, part of the problem I’ve since realized is that I’ll be having the light illuminate

objects in the scene…so I really do need an actual light rather than a fuzzy bright streak.

It’ll be a spotlight from above shining on things in the frame.</p>

 

<p>Harry…ick. Yuck. Bleargh.</p>

 

<p>Besides, I’d never subject my feline masters to such an

affront…not that they’d even let me….</p>

 

<p>Cheers,</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

Ben, the Mole-Richardson studio store in Hollywood (http://www.studiodepot.com/store/) carries two types of canned smoke. One is named "Diffusion In a Can," (item #pa-375) and the other is "Spray Smoke" (item #pa-129). I have not yet used either, but they look interesting and just may give the needed effect. These two items sell for around $21 and $18, respectively.

 

As far as I know, the larger rental smoke machines are more suitable for large open areas such as sound stages rather than a smaller home photographic environment.

 

Dry ice can work, but being colder than the ambient air, will tend to layer itself above the ground instead of dispersing higher into the air. Fullers earth, a very fine clay product, may work in some situations but is messy to clean up and is best used for dusting down surfaces and adhering to fake rubber cement spider webs.

 

There also may be other sources for those two smoke in a can products - I didn't check.

 

Hope this information is of some help.

 

John

<p>A good source of dust is under my bed or under the book shelf, but I guesss that's not what you meant ;-)</p>

<p>I use joss sticks (i.e. incense sticks). Yes, they smell but it is at least pleasant - that is if you like your house to smell like an oriental temple.</p>

<p>Just for information purposes, inhaling incense smoke has been found to be a cause of lung cancer.<br>

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1467409.stm"><Link></a></p>

<p>Stafan, I’ve got lots of similar dust here, too, if it comes to that…though most of it

used to be attached to one of the cats and would probably require further processing before it would

no longer be recognizable as such….</p>

 

<p>Chris, I think I had mentioned that I had contemplated them, but there’s that whole

“stink up the house” bit — plus I’m really just looking for a light haze,

not visible wisps. I’m sure a single evening of burning incense wouldn’t give me the

cancer that Michael points to…but one of the cats is old and has very mild seasonal allergies.

No need to stress her out.</p>

 

<p>Cheers,</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

<p>Forget about dry ice. The smoke is heavier than air and stays near the ground.</p>

<p>Incense is easy and relatively non-stinky. If you don't like the whisps, just fan it around a bit to get even distribution.</p>

<p>Another option: smoke in a spray can. Quick google search turns up this:<br>

http://www.hottrix.com/html/CCsmoke.shtml</p>

<p>Or you can just leave dinner on the stove, turned up to high, and get absorbed in some photography project.</p>