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Smoke Signals
2nd PlaceSmoke Signals
brownsm


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Multiple Light Sources II (Basic Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
Location: Ledyard, CT
Date: Mar 20, 2007
Aperture: f3.5
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/250
Galleries: Abstract, Macro
Date Uploaded: Mar 20, 2007

 I saw this technique yesterday in Popular Photography, and I knew instantly that I wanted to try it for this challenge.

Used 2 cones of incense. I used jasmine scent, although any scent will do ;) This was lit with 3 off-camera flashes: 2 Sigma 500's and a Nikon SB24. I fired the Nikon with a PC sync cord, and the sigmas slaved optically. The flashes were outfitted with a snoot made from craft foam to concentrate the beam of light. To get the colors, I used pink tissue paper over the Nikon, and two plastic kids cups on the sigmas (blue and orange. They were all aimed at different heights of the smoke plume. I had to adjust the power of the flashes a few times to get the correct balance of light intensities. Taken completely in the dark, with a black velvet pillow as a background.

Post processing: converted from Raw, with no adjustments during conversion. Cropped to remove very bottom of smoke trail. Added a curves layer (S-shaped) to bump up contrast. Added channel mixer layer to boost color. Flattened image, changed to 8-bit. Resized to 640 pixels. Cleaned up about 5 hot pixels. Slight dose of USM at small radius. Saved for Web.

I have high hopes for this one. It turned out exactly as I had envisioned, with one exception. I didn't expect the wide range of colors (like the purple). I guess that's light mixing in action.

Statistics
Place: 2 out of 159
Avg (all users): 7.0558
Avg (commenters): 8.2273
Avg (participants): 6.4583
Avg (non-participants): 7.2275
Views since voting: 50501
Views during voting: 422
Votes: 215
Comments: 45
Favorites: 35 (view)

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AuthorThread
 09/17/2007 03:11:09 PM
cool shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/15/2007 05:07:54 PM
WoW beautiful job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/29/2007 10:08:52 AM
very neat shot, I need to learn to do stuff like this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 03:54:00 PM
awesome! Thanks for telling how you did it-very creative even if you did read it somewhere! GREAT JOB!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2007 10:07:41 PM
bad
 04/01/2007 05:14:48 PM
Great!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2007 10:25:37 AM
This is a fantastic shot. Great job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2007 12:22:17 AM
Originally posted by RainMotorsports:
eh... no he didnt... Hate to say it similar but mobster uses photoshop to color the smoke. This was colored by lights.


Ah! Sorry, my mistake. That's impressive!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2007 04:55:09 PM
Great shot, congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2007 02:00:52 PM
This is my choice for blue. Well done...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2007 12:42:01 PM
Originally posted by idreamoftryptamines:
mobster created a tutorial for exactly this kind of shot a while back. It's in the "How'd they do that?" section of Dpchallenge. Great execution!


eh... no he didnt... Hate to say it similar but mobster uses photoshop to color the smoke. This was colored by lights.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2007 12:17:53 PM
I believe this to be stronger than the blue for MLS, well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2007 10:47:31 AM
mobster created a tutorial for exactly this kind of shot a while back. It's in the "How'd they do that?" section of Dpchallenge. Great execution!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2007 07:56:06 AM
Such a SUPER shot within the basic editing rules, IMO!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2007 06:14:31 AM
This is so good. The minute I heare "multiple light sources" I see in my mind perfectly executed shots like this with different hues and colors. Congratulations on your well-deserved ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2007 03:13:14 AM
I finally got to vote and this was one of my top 3... congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2007 12:15:37 AM
Great shot, and a good detailed "how-to" description as well, which I think a lot of folks appreciate, myself included. Well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2007 11:31:09 PM
Very cool stuff Steve. Nice work! I didn't get to vote, but sure love this image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2007 10:41:32 PM
WOW! congrats on your ribbon. A superb execution.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2007 09:27:38 PM
Congratulation! And thank you for describing the whole process.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2007 08:34:57 PM
VERY good. The different colours really make it superb. Congrats on the red.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2007 08:11:24 PM
NIce effect! congats on the well deserved ribbon with it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/27/2007 07:11:29 PM
Very effective. I love the many colors. Good depth of field, too. Looks complicated!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2007 07:05:50 PM
My favorite for this challenge. Pretty, well lit and focused. It's so interesting to see all the shapes and forms and find recognizable things in it...or is that weird? :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2007 08:31:14 AM
great picture! please tell how done afterwards
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2007 08:02:32 AM
AWESOME!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2007 03:29:16 AM
Very nice & unique..10
Congratulations!!

Message edited by author 2007-03-28 00:32:24.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2007 06:51:43 PM
Gorgous take. Very impressive!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2007 12:46:34 PM
Wonderful work. Should finish very well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2007 06:08:27 PM
stunning
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2007 09:20:54 PM
See this type of thing all the time in Advanced - I hope you get the credit you deserve since this is basic, and not do-able in post.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2007 03:37:33 PM
Well done! Sharp and picks up the lights' colors nicely.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2007 09:17:33 AM
superbe...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 09:34:15 PM
This is by far the very best photo in this challenge, and I give you a "10" from me.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 08:30:22 PM
HOW DO YOU DO THIS??? I am amazed! JMHO - isn't this missing a green tint? ;) -- 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 07:54:44 PM
Great job with the colors; hope details are in description.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 06:54:35 PM
I love any effect with smoke, the different colors really make it pop.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 04:03:55 PM
Awesome. I really like it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 12:10:46 PM
Beautiful colours!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 07:53:31 AM
Beautiful!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 06:31:42 AM
definitely multiple light sources here! very cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 04:27:20 AM
Wow, there is even a smoky woman sitting down there
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 03:17:52 AM
Superb, both the image and the use of multiple lights, looks like a ribbon winner.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2007 02:09:14 AM
awesome movement and colour...great abstract, good luck
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/20/2007 10:19:56 PM
Multiple light used for the source createive.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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