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I needed a landscape photo of a foggy forest on sunny day, where beams of sunlight were streaming through the trees and creating beautiful sun rays. The only problem was that it was summer and there was no fog to be had.
So I decided to rent a fog machine and see if we could make enough fog to simulate real fog. For this task I enlisted the help of my friend Chris Collacott, and together we created a pretty cool image. Here is how we did it.
I’ve used smoke machines on shoots indoors before, and they never end up looking quite the way I expect. Thanks to this video from Gavin Hoey, though, I think I now know why. Obviously, I was using the wrong kind of smoke. In the video, Gavin shows three different liquids that can be used to create smoke, when and why you might want to use one over another, as well as how to light them.
Low lying fog can be fantastic for those creepy photo shoots, especially out on location. Or, perhaps you’re trying to recreate the look of a particular 80s pop music TV show. Whatever your reason, low lying fog often works much better than a more elevated smoke-filled atmosphere choking your subject.
In this video from Jay P Morgan for The Slanted Lens, we see how to make a smoke machine produce low lying fog. And all you need is a cooler and a big block of ice.
We are big fans or Eric Pare and Kim Henry, the photographer/dancer duo has created some epic art over the years. Now, they are coming back with a new technique that involves fog machine, a projector and some copper lights. The shooting was done to celebrate Eric’s new light painting studio, and a celebration they had.
Eric explains how the photos were created:
A few years back, we shared this tutorial on how to make some DIY clouds to use as props in your photos. It’s still a great tutorial, and certainly a much longer lasting way to make clouds than the method we’re about to show you, so remember to check it out when we’re done over here. But, first, discover the work of Berndnaut Smilde, a dutch artist who has truly perfected the science of DIY cloud making.
As the image above suggests, Smilde’s clouds are quite realistic and are made using a fog machine, water, and ingenuity. You’ve probably figured out by now these clouds are also very temporary, often only lingering just long enough to make a photo before they drift away.
Fog machines are super useful and lots of fun to keep around the studio. They are perfect for creating smokey or foggy atmospheric photos just about anywhere. In the latest DIY hack from Ryan Connolly at FilmRiot, he shows you a quick little hack to get your everyday fog machine to produce epic, thick, low hanging fog. There are a lot of uses for this type of fog and Connolly shares several of them with you in the clip.
As far as the hack goes, you’ll need a knife, styrofoam cooler, PVC pipe about 2-foot long (sized to fit your fog machine), fog machine, fog machine liquid, and a chunk of dry ice.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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