Smoking weed (photography)

[PinkFireFly]

So today I grabbed a cannabis leaf from my backyard (my mom is growing some, it's legal in the Netherlands if you have a valid reason), and I stuck it on a black background with some needles to hold the leaf in place (these needles were later photoshopped out). Then I placed incense sticks under the leaf to crate the smokey effect.

I took like a 100 pictures to get the damn smoke in the picture. I've learned that smoke is best captured using a diffused flash, and that it's very bad to do this in a tiny little photostudio that makes the smoke fly in your eyes as you try to take the picture. Even so, out of a 100, I got one that was pretty decent. I've also learned to not use the velvet-like side of the black backdrop, as it contained a lot of ashes from the incense sticks, so they show up as 'noise' in the picture >_>

It's the first time I did something soo .. conceptual? Haha. Anyways, I posted this to get some comments and criticism on it.

[Goldghoti]

wow, it looks really cool!
the smoke is great!

it's a great picture, but there's just something missing that's keeping it from being "awesome"...
i'm not a photographer, so i wouldn't be able to tell you what's missing >.<
maybe it's just my taste?

anyway, cool shot!
i'd love to see other pictures that you've taken smile

[PinkFireFly]

TromboneGrrl

wow, it looks really cool!
the smoke is great!

it's a great picture, but there's just something missing that's keeping it from being "awesome"...
i'm not a photographer, so i wouldn't be able to tell you what's missing >.<
maybe it's just my taste?

anyway, cool shot!
i'd love to see other pictures that you've taken smile

Hmm, something missing eh? Maybe more smoke?

If you want to see more pictures, here's my DeviantArt, I also post all my pictures here in the photography arena ^_^

[PinkFireFly]

heart

[PinkFireFly]

heart

[PinkFireFly]

Any comment at all?

[xXxXNeverMoreXxXx]

It's a very nice shot, only I feel it's missing something. I'm not sure what, or it might be the movement of the smoke.

[xen0m0rph]

It's lovely.

I think NeverMore is right...I think the direction of the smoke could've used more manipulation on your part.
I know you said it was hard, but...that's smoke for ya!

[J. Gunner]

Wow, the smoke is really what makes the picture!

[Cyberpumpkin]

The smoke is really cool!

The pot leaf actually takes away from it, in my opinion, and not necessarily in an anti-weed way. It's just one of those memes that crops up in art that is done to death and is hard to do in a way that is not tiresome for the viewer.

Kinda like photos where the subject is giving the camera the finger, or Kindgom Hearts fan art.

I'm not saying any of these are impossible to do in fresh and worthwhile ways, but it's difficult.

What I'd really love to see is more objects+smoke photos! Smoke is something that I rarely see as the subject of photos (things that are giving off smoke, maybe, but not the smoke itself). I wanna see that!

[RAWR_im a vampire kitty]

The picture is awesome.
Love the smoke.
Yes, more smoke would be nice, but either way, it is very good, indeed.

I just draw pictures{{I'm no master at taking, and editing pictures like that,}}:

{{the joker}}


{{love}}

[PinkFireFly]

xen0m0rph

It's lovely.

I think NeverMore is right...I think the direction of the smoke could've used more manipulation on your part.
I know you said it was hard, but...that's smoke for ya!

Yeah, I still have to figure out how to get the smoke the way I wanted it to appear. I'm thinking next time I'll use a vacuum cleaner above the smoke to get it nice and straight .. but I don't know how I'm gonna do that just yet haha.

Cyberpumpkin

The smoke is really cool!

The pot leaf actually takes away from it, in my opinion, and not necessarily in an anti-weed way. It's just one of those memes that crops up in art that is done to death and is hard to do in a way that is not tiresome for the viewer.

Kinda like photos where the subject is giving the camera the finger, or Kindgom Hearts fan art.

I'm not saying any of these are impossible to do in fresh and worthwhile ways, but it's difficult.

What I'd really love to see is more objects+smoke photos! Smoke is something that I rarely see as the subject of photos (things that are giving off smoke, maybe, but not the smoke itself). I wanna see that!

I don't understand your argument because for one, weed is illegal in most places of the world, so that's one thing that makes photography of actual weed scarce. Second, how many weed pictures do you see with smoke around it like that? To tell you the truth, I've never seen any weed pictures on Gaia (that wasn't drawn), and there are only like 1500 pictures of actual weed on DeviantArt. So I don't understand how this can be 'overdone'.

[Rixee]

Beastttttt.

[Mindeulle Lese]

ummmm cool

[xen0m0rph]

PinkFireFly

Yeah, I still have to figure out how to get the smoke the way I wanted it to appear. I'm thinking next time I'll use a vacuum cleaner above the smoke to get it nice and straight .. but I don't know how I'm gonna do that just yet haha.

I found this site:
http://photocritic.org/artsmoke-photographing-smoke/
Looks like you were on the right track with incense.
I guess it takes a lot of setup, and it looks like the person who wrote the article is suggesting studio lights.
Aiiyeee...