Smoke (La Vie En Fumer)*
A long time ago, smoking was enthusiastically publicised and even endorsed as being the ‘cool thing to do’. Publicity photos for members of the entertainment industry often had them posing with a cigarette, as a twisting plume of smoke headed skywards.
Despite giving up smoking some years ago, I am still seduced by its unique shapes and contours - so I started photographing it. Refining the setup is key, and although you might need to take 50+ to get a cracker, the results speak for themselves.
Once you’re comfortable having figured out ‘how to’, then experimenting with some post-production tricks using Photoshop could be the next step. By adding colours and textures, you can go in another direction and giving the smoke further dimensions.
By reversing the background and using the grading and colourising techniques, I turned some images into corporate art, and even I'm (modestly) impressed with the results …
