There’s been a fuss among photographers recently about smoke photography. We ran a search about it over the Internet and woila! amazing stuffs!

Last week, we have decided to head over to our studio and try on a few rounds ourselves. It’s really no easy job trying to shape and direct formless shape of smoke into masterpieces. But here are some simple techniques and work samples that will help you keep the ball rolling!

Things you need

• Joss stick /aromatic incense sticks (the smokier it is, the better)
• Lighter
• A strobe
• A snoot
• White reflector
• Dark colored background (black preferred)
• Tripod
• A wireless or a sync cord shutter release (not necessary)
• Your camera

Since smoke is naturally light grey, always use a dark/black background to give you the needed contrast. Ensure your background is underexposed and completely dark. If you are thinking about coloured background or smoke, it’s good to know that it can all be done on Photoshop in later stage. All you need to do now is to concentrate on the shoot itself.

Using the blending options, path tool and a little imagination, we'll show you how to add mood to an image by creating stunning glow effects and light streaks.

Before & After:

Let's begin!

Open your selected image.

Image ID: 4918599 © Alexander Yakovlev 123RF.com

Step 1
Now, use your best preferred method to extract the Dancer from the image. We will be using the Pen Tool (P) for this. Trace the outlines of the Dancer and with the Pen Tool selected, make a selection path by right clicking on the image and choose “Make Selection”. Set Feather to 1px and select Anti-Aliased.

This is a simple way of creating a CD cover design with digitized background and neon lights text. This method was adapted from an old Photoshop tutorial which I've then modified and used to create this cool digital-concept CD cover design.

Final Result:

:

Step 1
Open an image for the background and Duplicate the layer.
Image ID: 3502224 © Aleksey Baskakov 123RF.com

Step 2
NOTE: The following effects are all created using Filters.
Firstly, go to Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic. Set Cell Size to 8 square.

Lens Blur Filter – an advanced blur filter unlike any other. As compared to other blur filters (Blur, Blur More and Gaussian Blur) which blur images in its entirety, Lens Blur Filter provides more control on how one wish to blur the image. By referring to the selected Greyscale, it is able to know where to apply blur and how much to apply. We are able to achieve gradual blur using this method.

Controls in a Lens Blur Filter panel

Image ID: 3262466 © Galyna Andrushko 123RF.com


Preview
Toggle to preview before and after applying the filter (the “Faster” option is preferred as “More Accurate” takes more time to load)

Depth Map (Greyscale selection)
Blur Focal Distance: Determines which shade of grey should the filter use to remain unblurred (0 being pure black).
Invert: Inverts the greyscale chosen.

Iris
Radius: Determines the amount of blur.
The Shape, Blade Curvature and Rotation: Simulates the aperture shapes of a camera. Those shapes would be most visible at the brightest part of an image.

Specular Highlights
Brightness: Dragging this slider to the right increases brightness when picture has become dull (Picture can become dull after blurring).
Threshold: Determines which shades of grey to be brightened (0 being pure black).

Noise
Blurred areas are rid of grains. Those unaffected areas might contain grains. Use the settings here to balance the grains of blurred and unblurred areas.

Simple example of Lens Blur Filter
Examine the below pattern.

Image ID: 3136358 © Ka Ho Leung 123RF.com


This gradient is used as my Alpha channel in the following example.


This is an example of Lens Blur using the gradient above. Notice how the image gradually blurs more at the brightest areas and remains unaffected in the darker areas.


The difference in a Gaussian Blur.


Enhancing the Depth of Feel of an image
Open an image and duplicate it.


Go to Windows > Channel and bring up the Channels Window. In there, click on the Add New Channel icon, using the default name “Alpha 1”.


Reset your Palette (D), fill it with white and click on the ‘reveal icon’ of RGB channel. You’re now in mask mode and can start masking.


We can use gradients, a softer or harder brush on Alpha 1 depending on the type of results you wish to achieve. Remember: the areas that we draw are the area we do not want to be affected.


Should you find the need for a softer touch, you can always blur your mask with Gaussian blur filter. The more shades of grey, the smoother the transition.

Apply your settings.


Result:


Faking Macro Mode
We can also simulate/fake a camera-blurred image. Think macro mode. I’ve selected a few images below, all with similar sharpness. What I am going to do is to montage the apples as one image, and apply a natural looking camera-blur to it.

Open the images:

As the old idiom states, “Time flies”. And to most of us, it cannot be said any better.

We often overlook the quiet beauty in the simplest things in life. But if we were to take our time to stop and look hard enough, we might just find all the splendor, majesty, and perhaps a little mystery that simply leaves one at awe. If diamonds are in the rough, then water is its equal.

A body of still, calm water may look bland. But when little droplets form and time is suspended, the captured images are nothing less than breathtaking.

Things You Need

• External Speedlite Flash
• Container – A square glass tank would be ideal
• Dripping source - a plastic bag, a stalk of flower or leaves, etc
• Tripod
• Pen
• Cardboards/Wallpaper – color depending on results you want to achieve
• Cloth

How It Is Done
Depending on individuals, what you wish to achieve will determine how you want to shoot and prepare your session. It's more of a self-experimenting session really.

For the most common of suspending-water-droplet shots however, you'll need to place some cardboards around and below a water tank before filling it to the top with water. This is a way to transfer the color of the cardboards into the water and to create a colorful effect on the water droplets.

Next, place a bag with a small pin hole over the top of the glass tank and have a trial run to ensure water droplets are falling into the right position and in a controlled manner.