Chasing the Dragon

All comments and critiques welcomed. Thanks-James

If this is a real puff of smoke unmanipulated then it is absolute magic and I can't imagine how you caught such an amazing shot BUT I have held off giving it 7/7 because I suspect it is a created post shooting. Please tell us - I admire your creativity in any case.!

James, great stuff. I have tried capturing smoke. I very rarely get good results. Could you elaborate on the lighting a bit for me. I just can't seem to nail it...

 

Thanks - Dave

The only post processing in this image is I cropped out the source of smoke, adjusted the levels and desaturated in photoshop. Thanks for your comment. Best regards, James

I understand your frustration, it was tough to get much that is worth anything. I set up on an old X-ray reader that was laying flat on a table and added a 300 watt halogen side light from the left pointed to the upper right. I had a hard time nailing the focus and should have used more lighting to speed up my shutter.I also have about 115 other smoke shots from this shoot that have perfect focus but less interesting patterns :) Best regards, James

As promised 7/7 in the ratings. So far no one else seems as impressed as me (having accepted your "no manipulation" criteria) but truly I am blown away by the sheer likeness to a sea horse. I guess it's horses for courses (excuse the pun)but you've sold me. Congrats on a marvelous capture.

Thanks for the follow up on your thoughts of this. It makes the two hours of freezing in my studio burning seven or eight incense sticks trying to get a good one worth while. At Least the studio smells really good :). Best regards, James

James,

 

This is indeed a great capture. I recently started experimenting with this type of subject, but my results aren't as pronounced as yours. It's not easy to catch these smoke creatures.

 

Good work.