Smoke & Dandelions with Lee Hall

Words by Lee Hall

It was a dull, wet day here in the UK, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to stay indoors and experiment with my new Platypod Bracket & Bounce system.

For this setup, I placed one of my holographic cards into the bouncer holder, with my flash positioned on the opposite side. I then secured a full dandelion seed head in the clamps attached to one elbow, while incense sticks were placed into the other elbow and its clamp.

I also tried using a small portable smoke machine to compare the results. Interestingly, both the incense sticks and the smoke machine worked equally well, each producing beautiful trails of smoke around the subject.

The Platypod Bracket & Bounce worked fantastically. I was able to position everything on just one Platypod eXtreme, then move the whole setup into place to capture the best lighting. Most of all, it kept everything nice and simple on my desk, which made the whole experiment much easier to control.

The flash played a big part in the final look. It helped freeze the smoke's movement while also bouncing color back into the image from the holographic card. By moving the card around, I was able to control the colors and create some wonderful effects in-camera.

For the flash, I worked between 1/32 and 1/16 power, adjusting the holographic card's position until I found the colors I wanted.

My camera settings were:

ISO: 200
Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/10 to f/13

Flash power was set at 1/32 of a second 

It was a simple indoor experiment, but a really enjoyable one. Sometimes a gray, rainy day is exactly what you need to slow down, play with light, and see what unexpected results you can create. Check out the video!