The Slanted Lens – Episode 27

Making Smoke Lay on Water: A Lighting Tutorial!

By Jay P. Morgan
In this Slanted Lens lesson we look at how to make smoke lay on the water or grass. It’s a very cool effect that is created by pumping smoke through a chill box. We will show you the simple steps to build a chill box and then how to apply this smoke effect to a shoot. We are doing a fantasy shot of a woman standing on a rock in the middle of the water holding a lantern. The smoke coming from our chill box will blend the rock, water and backdrop. Not only does it tie the shot together, it will also look very cool. We used a Dynalite Pencil Light in the lantern as a key light and it created a neat look. It was a tough but fun shoot.

Keep those cameras rolling, and keep on click’n!