Smoke trail art (Mind control)

Banath

Banath

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Jay Payne
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Had another go with smoke trails tonight this is my favorite. I took a photo of the smoke trail then mirrored the best half then created this, C&C welcome:

mind%20control(framed%20small).jpg
 
Wow! has the 'face' in the middle been edited in, or is it just how the image is, once the 2 pieces were put together?
 
Its how it turned out once the 2 halves were put together.
 
Love the shot!!

The face is awesome....
 
Thanks for the comments, its weird what happens with smoke! heres a couple more from last night:

Smoke sword:

Smoke%20sword(framed%20small).jpg

Evil:

Evil(framed%20small).jpg
 
They are all very good but the first one is excellent!

:clap:
 
Again, I'd love to know how you created these!

Thanks,
James
 
I didn't realise these would get such a good response, I'll attempt a bit of a tutorial hopefully it will make sense!.

1. Equipment

Tripod, DSLR, Black background, a small table or stool, an off camera flash a remote release, an incense stick and some bluetak.

2.Setup

Place the small table about 12" in front of the black background place the bluetak in the middle and stick the incense stick in it. Setup your tripod and camera, I use an 18-55mm lens set to 50mm and always set the camera in portrait orientation. Hold a magazine behind the insense stick use auto focus to get it sharp then switch to manual to lock the focus, the incense stick should be just out of shot. Set the camera in manual these were taken at f/8 with a 1 second exposure. You'll also need a remote shutter release or use the on camera timer.

3. The pictures

It has to be dark!, night time with the curatins shut and any other light sources removed. Light the incense stick, give it a minute to get going. Hold your flash in you hand behind and below the smoke (point the flash at the ceiling!) then press the remote shutter as you hear the lens open press the manual flash button once. If the smoke trail is a bit naff get an assistant my son lends a hand by lightly wiggling the bluetak base to make the smoke curl etc.

4. Photoshop

Look at the pictures you have taken and choose one that looks interesting (if smoke can be such a thing?). Alter the levels till your happy the background is black and the smoke trail is clear then layers>flatten. Use the snap and the ruler (view>snap/ view>rulers. depending which way you want to mirror you picture drag the ruler exactly to the centre of you image. Create a duplicate layer then edit>tranform>flip horizontal/vertical depending which way your mirroring the image. Select the rectangular marquee tool and select the half of the image that requires removing then hit delete then CTRL+H to remove the guideline. You should now have a mirrored smoke trail flatten the image. The last thing to do is us the gradient fill tool foreground to transparent, select radial 40% opacity and overlay as the blending mode choose any colour you want and fill over the areas you want to colour in.

Practise................:bonk:
 
brilliant...i've seen around 3 different faces so far in the first one!
 
Ace pictures and a well explained method “thanks”
 
Love it - especially the "demon" in the middle of Pic #1 raising his arms and swirling smoke everywhere. That's how I saw it. :) (Freud would have a field day with me.)

Excellent explanation too. :clap:
 
I'm bookmarking this page. Something I definately want to have a go at. Thanks for the really good tutorial.
 
Fantastic.

Good little guide on how these are done.(y)
 
Cheers all, hope you get some good results if you give it a go! (y)
 
Fantastic work, they are amazing :clap:
 
very clever and the 1st is something else
 
Wow. :clap:
 
Heres one for bedtime!

Haunted:

Haunted(framed%20small).jpg

Don't have Nightmares!:LOL:
 
Brilliant.

I'm off to get a teddy bear down from the loft. :exit:
 
I'm really impressed - I love this kind of semi-abstract shot :)

You have editing ticked, so I hope you don't mind - I spotted an (explicit) natural form in the shot called Haunted:
Haunted_framed_small_2.jpg


although it's nowhere near as impressive (or spooky) as the face in the first shot!
 
oh my god... you guy have a great great great serie, very impressived.

the last pics makes a lot of imagination ..... :puke:

:baby:
 
SmokeArt1.jpg


Here's my attempt.
Thanks for the tutorial.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
very very impressive i ahd a bash at this a couple of months ago but ony had on camera flash got some good images but nothing like yours they are just outstanding
 
I think these are fantastic, excellent work and thanks for the tutorial, i'm definately gonna give it a go on the weekend(if i can wait that long)...

I think this could call for a 'Show us your smoke shots' thread:D

Rav
 
Really great stuff! I might just have to give this a crack myself, would have to find a substitute for the flash mind.
 
Thanks for all the comments! Someone must have been digging around in the TP cellar to find this thread, glad it's still of some use to people have fun whoever has a go! (y)
 
I'd burn the first one. And if it's on your computer, I'd burn that too.

That's clearly a demon trying to contact you :crying:
 
Excellent stuff, have been meaning to have a go at this, thanks for the tutorial, must do it now!
 
Great shots! Ive been dabbling with flipping some of my light painting shots and its amazing what comes out especially if you crop into a certain section then flip it, join then flip that new section if that makes sense. Anyway heres a video for anyone who needs help with this... the guy has some great tutorials for allsorts!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2d281_HoEQ&feature=relmfu
Phil
 
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