Smoke machine

Indoors or outside?

Always check your model isn't Asthmatic. 

What particular make of smoke machine, and what fluid does it use?

I use smoke enough to have bought a rather expensive battery powered machine.  :-)

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I just bought this Ulanzi portable fog machine two weeks ago, https://www.ulanzi.com/products/filmog-ace-portable-fog-machine-r001 

Love it. It's tiny, portable, not too expensive. Love that it has a remote built-in that you can detach or use on the unit itself. Comes with several smog modifiers, with the remote you can also exactly dial in how much, how fast etc. No seperate batteries for this remote; it's li-ion rechargable internally. It comes already in the box with a bottle of the liquid required for the fog.

Keep in mind that the fog leaves a tiny layer of dust everywhere after your shoot; so you do need a tiny bit of clean-up; but one of those swiffer "magnetic dust" like pads will do the trick. So no need to actually hoover with a vacuum.

I don't have any photo's to show up for it yet;  i've got a backlog of 16 (!) shoots to edit; but this is the video of a Dutch female photographer that made me want to buy this. So check it out to see it in action; 

Edited by Gwenny

I've used smoke machines for a number of years for bands/theatres/nightclubs and photography. in terms of visible layered smoke, water based smoke tend to thin out to a haze (fog) quite quickly. The fog can hang in the air quite a bit without any ventilation. In a small environment, they can leave a film of deposit on electrical equipment as it condenses, but this is more common in long term exposure situations such as nightclubs. Pyrotechnic based smoke  (i.e. Enola Gaye)  for outdoor use tends to give a much denser and layered smoke effect.

Main issues from a photography point of view are focus and lighting. Any smoke between yourself and the subject certainly interferes with auto-focus, so sometimes its best to use focus lock or even manual focus if the subject is staying in the same plain. As the smoke disperses to haze, you will experience a loss in contrast and sharpness in your image. If shooting multiple images, you may need to ventilate the area and repopulate it with denser smoke.

Stating the obvious, light from flashes etc will bounce off the smoke and illuminate it. This is great for lasers and focused beams, however general flash such as soft boxes just tends to highlight the smoke or haze, lifting the overall luminance of the image. Depending upon your desired image, you should find that grids will allow you to control the image more and reduce the 'fog' effect.

In summary, it's an artform and not one that I claimed to have mastered - but have fun experimenting and be prepared to learn from failure.

Gwenny 

Good video, and that device looks fun.

Before investing in a smoke machine (although they are not that expensive on Amazon), if you have a butchers at Gavin Hoey's site - Gavtrain.com, there is a wealth of smoke related articles on there, including some free smoke overlays you can try with Photoshop. The link is here.....

https://www.gavtrain.com/?s=smoke 

Any experience of using one, I hear you ask?

I had the Bownes one, about 20 years ago. Slim, white coloured floor based unit, a 5 litre bottle of the liquid, that had a nice green apple smell. You pumped it a few times with a bit on the back with your foot, out the front the vapour shot. 10 pumps was enough to fill a single car use garage type area. But it did not just hang around on the floor, as I had hoped, it went right up to the ceiling. And the pained concrete floor, it makes it slippery. It only ever got used a few times, so I flogged it off for less than half price.

Edited by HotFridgePhotos

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We have one of those cheapie FXLab things. Bought it new on eBay for about twenty five quid, back in 2015, IIRC. Inside the metal box, it's a reservoir, connected to a tiny electric kettle with a squirty nozzle at one end. It's my kind if kit. I.e. dirt cheap and works a treat. :-)

We make our own "fog juice" comprising of 20% Boots "food grade" glycerol BP and 80% distilled water. That way we know what's in it. We open the main external doors and blow the residual fog outside with moderately powerful 40cm fan, as soon as we are done to avoid any residual deposits. In any event, the amount of fog juice we use is literally about 10-20ml per session and glycerol is water soluble. Importantly, always check that our models are not allergic to glycerol before deploying the machine for a shoot.

We don't use it for every shoot, but when we do, we usually have a lot of fun with it. :-)

Edit: Even the stale smoke can have its creative uses as this snap of model beckilouise in her mermaid costume attempts to demionstrate. Here we tried to use it to give a murky underwater look, assisted by a blue filter lighting a green background c/w a little intentional light leakage.

OK, so it's not particularly convincing. But it was a lot of fun trying. Though as others have already pointed out, one needs to familiarise oneself with the vagaries of manual focus first. :-)

Edited by waist.it

Crippen thanks

ADWsPhotos thanks. Cool effects, great shots

Paul Archer Photography this is great thanks. Might be a solution, I'll have a try with an existing shoot

Frameworks Media great advice thanks

Gothic Image

waist.it

Great images and advice thanks, appreciated