[tweetmeme]Here are some of the smoke photographs from my portfolio. Smoke photographs always fascinate me. A sense of anonymity on the type and shape of smoke makes it so unpredictable and poses a challenge, and at the same time increases our creativity to come up with things that match the shape.
To completely understand the process involved in taking a good smoke photograph read my Quick Recipe for Smoke Photography. Otherwise, enjoy 17 of my best smoke photographs.

My kind of torch !

Giraffe on Dope

Buzzz

Array of Colours

Curtain

Red Hot Tea Pot

Rooster House on Fire

Tri Colour

Don’t come next to me

Dream

Lady Lying In Her Arms

Serene

Bat on Flight

Wave

Angel

Eaten

Threesome

All the pictures in this post are copywrighted to AnRb photography and any use of this work in hard or soft copy or transfer must be done with the expressed consent of Amar Ramesh, the author, in written.

[tweetmeme]There are two types of motion blur pictures. The first type is where you keep your surroundings static and bring out motion in the subject. This works pretty well with pictures where only a part of the subject is moving, like the arms or legs. The other type of blur is where you keep the subject mostly in focus and get a motion blur effect on the background. This works well when the entire subject is in motion, just like the bike in the image above.

Here are a few quick pointers for taking some cool motion blur shots.

1. Be alert and Ready to Shoot

The most  important tip that you have to remember when shooting a moving object is to be alert and ready to shoot. You must be aware of whats going on around you, have your settings ready well in advanced, and always anticipate the next step. That way you’ll never miss that perfect shot.

2. Look at your surroundings

Concentrate on your surroundings. What’s going to be in the background of your photo? Remember the background can make or break a picture.

3. Two Kinds of Motion Blur

For the first type of motion blur, keep the camera still so that the subject is blurred. Alternatively you can track your subject with the camera so that motion blur is applied to the background.

4. Use the Shutter Speed Priority Mode

Motion blur is all about shutter speed. To bring out the motion in the backdrop and keep the subject in focus, start with a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second and slow down gradually depending on the results and the speed of the subject. This will help you to determine the optimum shutter speed for motion blur in those conditions.

5. Trace the Moving Subject

Start tracking the subject before you press the shutter, and don’t stop until the photo has been taken. This will help in capturing sharp subjects. Also, using the cameras viewfinder rather than the LCD helps a lot. It helps to keep the camera steady and allows your pivot to be far more accurate.

6. S-AF or Servo Focus

Set the Focus to S-AF or Servo. On this mode, the camera will continue to focus regardless of whether your finger is on the button. This helps in tracking the fast moving objects because it saves the time spent focusing before a shot. It was built specifically for this reason, so why not use it if you have it.

7. Use a Low ISO

Set the ISO to the lowest possible setting. If you cannot prepare for a test shot then set it somewhere between 200 and 400.

8. One Thirds Always Works

Select the focus point off the center. If you don’t have the ability to do this, select the center focus and crop it during post processing. The One third rule almost always works. Again photography is all about breaking rules. Break them when you feel they work.

9. Steady Hands and the Perfect Pivot

Try to keep hold the camera tight. This will avoid some unwanted blur. A great tip this is to use the viewfinder instead of the LCD. By doing this your pivot will be far more accurate because the camera is following your eyes, not your arms.

10. Practice Makes Perfect

Practice, practice and practice. This is the key to success.

Keep visiting back for more tips and techniques.

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Smoke photography has gained lot of momentum in the recent years. There are some photographers out there who come up with amazing smoke photographs. The setup for smoke photography is relatively simple. Here’s a quick recipe for  successful smoke photographs.

Items Needed:

• A power controllable flash/strobe light
• A DSLR
• A good lens (preferably macro lens)
• An incense sticks
• Tripod optional
• Black background
• Two small black sheet
• Wireless flash trigger or wired trigger

Steps Involved:

• Attach the black back drop to the wall.
• Place the incense stick a foot away from the back drop.
• Place a table lamp on the right to help with focusing.
• Place the flash/strobe on the left side of the incense stick, half a foot away from smoke.
• Place the black sheet on either side of the strobe to avoid unwanted spill and flare.
• Start with 1/16th of the power and go up or down depending on your strobe.
• Now light the incense stick, switch on the table lamp.
• Focus on the edge of the incense stick where the smoke arises. Don’t open your aperture wider than f8.0
• Keep the shutter speed below your sync speed. 1/200 is preferable.
• Click away and get some great smoke pictures.
• Slightly blow the smoke to get some dramatic shapes of smoke.
• Try placing 2 or 3 incense sticks to form a pattern.

Easy post processing techniques:

• Open the picture in Photoshop.
• Select the entire image by clicking Ctrl A or Cmd A
• Go to Image>Adjustments>Inverse. This will make the background white.
• Use Hue and Saturation to adjust the color of the smoke.
• Also try the colorize option under Hue & Saturation adjustment to get some dramatic colors of the smoke on a white background.

Follow these steps and end up with some artistic pictures. Last but not least always remember to practice, practice and practice. That’s the only way to be perfect.