I lied. This isn't going to be about smoke and mirrors. It's just just going to be about smoke.I had a shoot today. It was much like many others. The model, Nautica, was on time and eager. She looked great. Charmane, our MUA for the day, was already there and ready to go.
I shot three wardrobe changes and three different backgrounds. For a portion of one of the sets, I decided to add some smoke in the background to see how that would look. Fortunately, I had two assistants today: Cippy (pronounced "Sippy") and Sergio (who I like to call Fonzie because he reminds me of the Fonze.) I say "fortunately" because it's really helpful to have an extra set of hands when a gag like smoke is introduced into a shoot.
Fonzie would man the fog machine from the side, beind Nautica. Cippy would stay available in front of the set to make any lighting adjustments I might want or so that he could wield a reflector if I needed to bounce in some fill.
At first, everything went fine. But smoke has a mind of it's own. And even though everything in the studio that might generate air movement (fans and the A/C) were turned off--in hopes the smoke would remain, for the most part, in place--it didn't.The smoke started drifting in front of Nautica which I definitely did not want to happen. (See image on right.) Thankfully, Cippy was available so I had him grab a piece of beadboard and very gently fan the smoke back towards the BG, keeping it from getting in front of Nautica.
Once Sippy started fanning the smoke back, things were back to looking good for a few clicks but then, regardless of Cippy's attempts to keep it in check, the smoke still found a way to permeate the airspace in front of Nautica. After a few more clicks I decided to "86" the smoke gimmick and get back to shooting what the client actually prefered me shooting.
Below are my two smoke wranglers, Cippy and Fonzie, while Nautica stays in (sexy) character even though she knows the BTS shots aren't really part of the shoot.
Credits again: Model Nautica, MUA Charmane, Assistants Cippy and the Fonze. Canon 5D w/ 85mm prime, ISO 100, f/5.6 @ 125th. (That last shot, the behind-the-scenes shot, was captured with a Canon 20D w/ 28-135mm zoom, same exposure settings.)
Here's another shot of Nautica from today's brief and losing battle wrangling smoke... just cuz Nautica's so easy on the eyes.
3 comments:
You did better than I did in a recent attempt to use smoke. I decided that dry ice was the way to go...wrong. The fog was so heavy that it clung to the floor, which didn't suit my needs for the shot.
Still, it's worth remembering how the stuff behaves and it was fun watching it bubble.
Next purchase is a cheap smoke machine, I suppose.
Hey Jimmy -
I have been here a couple times now and am fasinated by your studio - it looks huge and with a ton of equiptment.
Could you please do an artical on your studio set up, monthly costs of running a studio both digital & film. Including some things like basic studio requirements for us amatures trying to go pro and thinking about starting a glam studio? Maybe even some studio do's and don't's... and of course - add in some of that humour you have so when we all read the cost reality of operating a studio - we'll at least get a chuckle for now rather than getting totally depressed or repressed about taking the studioi plunge.
TIA
- c -
Could you please do an artical on your studio set up, monthly costs of running a studio both digital & film.
Okay, I'll do that in the near future. Always need ideas to write about and that's a good one.
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