When I decided to take this series of photos I had no clue what I was getting myself into, the smoke bombs seemed dangerous; I had never tried anything like this before, and the smoke went in every direction.
Smoke, as I learned, is not easily controlled and seems to have a mind of its own.
Freshman William Wagner, who is featured in these photos, was a major help in figuring out a way to deal with the smoke, he adjusted his body placement and where he was standing frequently in order to allow the smoke into the photo. We worked together to understand what was going to look best.
As the shoot progressed, it was clear that there was no way to control the smoke; rather, we were going to have to conform to its will, which would be an explanation as to why the photos selected from the shoot were ones taken much later in the night. While I do not frequently like using my flash in portrait or any type of artistic work like this, the flash reflected off of the smoke quite well and made it more prominent in the photos.
I preferred the outcome with the flash over the ones shot during daylight, as the smoke was more clear. I will, however, try this type of smoke bomb shoot again and test my abilities to do so during broad daylight. I enjoy doing these more artistic shoots in comparison to the much more organized style of senior photos and basic portraits because it allows for both myself and the subject to be more creative and get out of our comfort zones.
I plan on doing more of these types of photo shoots; I believe they help strengthen my abilities as a photographer as well as allow for me to approach ordinary photos from a more creative angle and also help me develop my own style.
Have you ever used smoke bombs? What happened?