Good way to photograph/create nice dark smoke?

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

12/29/2009 04:03:40 AM · #1

Planning out a shoot right now, and part of it includes a good amount of black smoke pouring out of an oven. Obviously I don't want to actually have this occurring in my home, so I need to find a good way to create a nice thick black smoke and composite it into the image later.

What are some materials/fluids that will give me a nice controllable burn, but produce a good amount of black smoke?

Im going to set up a piece of white foamcore as a backdrop and create the smoke in front of it, as it will be easy to separate it in post.

Im going to use the method Joey L has on his dvd for the flames...just some rags soaked in paint thinner photographed with the white background again, and then just positioning and playing with levels/opacity to get them to look good in the final image.

The 3rd aspect im playing with is to shoot the model in the scene, or add her in later, but I guess there really is no reason why she can't be in the frame, save myself the trouble of trying to position her properly later.

spiritualspatula

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

12/29/2009 04:20:22 AM · #2

Smokebombs in general are exceptionally easy and safe to make at home. Do a google search. I've never done a black one specifically though, but I know it's possible and easy. I'd send you a link myself but I'm just finishing up at work and smokebomb searches probably aren't encouraged...

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

12/29/2009 04:27:30 AM · #3

Haha, ill check it out. I mean I bet I could just do a regular smoke bomb, and then "burn" it in ps, or play wit hthe levels to get it nice and dark. I shall look into this!

Spork99

Canon EOS R8

Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM

12/29/2009 04:28:04 AM · #4

Gasoline + old tires = lots of black smoke

spiritualspatula

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

12/29/2009 04:32:12 AM · #5

Originally posted by AJSullivan:

Haha, ill check it out. I mean I bet I could just do a regular smoke bomb, and then "burn" it in ps, or play wit hthe levels to get it nice and dark. I shall look into this!

You can definitely make it go pretty black. For the record, it's easy to make colored (like red, purple.. etc etc) ones too, for any more DIY'ers out there.

12/29/2009 04:50:01 AM · #6

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

Gasoline + old tires = lots of black smoke

As sarcastic as this response is, I was debating cutting "chips" out of an old tire and using that, but figured I would save my neighbors the smell.

SpiSpat -

About.com has a good how to make a smoke bomb recipe: saltpeter + powdered sugar.

Gonna see where I can track down some saltpeter.

12/29/2009 07:07:47 AM · #7

Almost any given smoke recipe will produce white smoke (that won't be easy to fix in PS)

I hate to say it, but the tire chips might work better (and smell worse)...

The other option I can see is to use very fine dark powder (think baking cocoa) and somehow (M-80?) make it go into a cloud...

-Cory

12/29/2009 07:11:44 AM · #8

Originally posted by coryboehne:

Well I do have a damn near unlimited supply of fireworks in my basement, but I think for the most part, they won't give me more than a second of smoke (even if I crack em open and dump out the good stuff into a bowl)

I think color correcting the smoke woudn't be too hard actually....the recipes i'm seeing look like its giving off a greyish smoke...so maybe I should shoot it against black foam core, and then just remove it from the background, and then do a curves correction and set the smoke as the black point in the image?

12/29/2009 07:14:09 AM · #9

I would like to see the results of that... It very well could work, although I think you might like having a white BG as it will make the smoke look darker, whereas a black background would make the smoke look lighter? yeah? :)

12/29/2009 07:21:53 AM · #10

Yeah, but if the smoke isn't dark enough in the first place, it will make a clean separation a bitch to pull off. Where as white on black is much easier to pull out than white on white. Who knows. I have both laying around, so Ill see what I can come up with.

A friend of mine is telling me that baby oil will burn dark, which I'd assume is the case with most oils, but I think the issue will be the amount of smoke.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

12/29/2009 07:50:03 AM · #11

You know, I did just have an idea here...

You *could* use a cheese grater to shave some rubber off of a tire or something, then add that to a smoke mix. Last resort though I imagine as burning rubber smells terrible.

Spork99

Canon EOS R8

Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM

12/29/2009 08:00:05 AM · #12

Originally posted by AJSullivan:

Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Gasoline + old tires = lots of black smoke

As sarcastic as this response is, I was debating cutting "chips" out of an old tire and using that, but figured I would save my neighbors the smell.

SpiSpat -

About.com has a good how to make a smoke bomb recipe: saltpeter + powdered sugar.

Gonna see where I can track down some saltpeter.

I wasn't being sarcastic. It would be a smelly mess, but you'd get black smoke and lots of it.

karmat

Apple iPhone 7

12/29/2009 08:23:59 AM · #13

if you decide to burn the tires or whatever, inside, please open the doors and windows. . . .

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D

12/29/2009 09:00:33 AM · #14

Oh goodness no. All of this is happening outside.

David Ey

Nikon D80

12/29/2009 09:04:58 AM · #15

Black smoke is not green. None of you should complain about carbon footprint again. tsk tsk tsk

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

12/29/2009 09:16:31 AM · #16

I'm vehemently against the environment though.

DrAchoo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

12/29/2009 09:25:29 AM · #17

Originally posted by AJSullivan:

Oh goodness no. All of this is happening outside.

Thank goodness. I was thinking you were going to have a sooty mess on your hands.

one2one

Olympus E-5

Olympus 7-14mm f/4.0 Zuiko Digital Zoom

12/29/2009 09:30:35 AM · #18

Leaves will give you grey smoke and sometimes it's close to black. Humid leaves work well.

Vegetable oil will burn and produce black smoke.

Any plastic will do but that's poisonous to you and the Planet.

12/29/2009 09:31:12 AM · #19

Hmm...

I have a GREAT idea here...

Diesel semi trucks always smoke black as heck when they first start up... Go to your local trucking area (wherever that might be..) and wait for them to just start a truck.. Loads of black smoke!

Alternatively any diesel will do this, even passenger vehicles, just have to gun the engine when it can't use all of the fuel..

Message edited by author 2009-12-29 14:31:47.

12/29/2009 09:39:52 AM · #20

Originally posted by coryboehne:

Oddly enough, already thought of this! Saw it this morning when I was waiting at a red light, a diesel truck sent such a black cloud of smoke out. But I rather not sit around waiting for this to happen, plus truckers might not take kindly to me lurking around their rides with a camera and a peice of white board.