Here in the Denver area is a local photographer who does awesome photos of smoke. Bruce Norman is primarily a nature and travel photographer, but experiments with abstracts and such. His series of smoke photos deserves a look. (This is what we Colorado photographers do when we’re stuck in our house for 3 days during a blizzard!)

You can also check out this collection on Pbase by Tang. Similar style to Bruce, but it appears there’s more manipulated images from Tang. His stuff looks way cool too.

So, how is this done? First, you have to head over to Pier 1 or your local head shop for some incense. Try a few different ones, but get scents that you like.

Next, you need a room with still air. Shut off the AC or heat; you want to control the puffs of air that create the waves in the smoke. A wave of your hand is enough. A black background and a flash complete the package. (the white background images are negatives. Invert in PS with CTRL-I)

Different colors can be achieved using gels over your flash or by working the image in Photoshop. Levels, Hue / Saturation, Colorize, play with Layer Blending modes; try them all. You’ll be surprised at all that you can do.

Next time you’re cooped up in the house for a day or two, try some smoke photos.