Skip to main content

Smoke Machine Test

ISO 100, Aperture F5, Shutter 1/15s, Focal Length 24mm

In early January I received the Smoke Genie which I kickstarted last year. The Smoke Genie is a small handheld smoke machine that is about the size of 20oz bottle of pop. I always wanted a smoke machine but a lot of the ones I have seen have been too large and can’t provide the type of control I would want.  Now I have worked with dry ice and you can’t really control that, but if I was going to invest in a smoke machine, I wanted to ensure it was controllable, met a variety of needs, and small to be able to easily store it.  The Smoke Genie met all those needs and is really designed for the small creative, not the DJ trying to make haze at the club or the big movie production team with budget to spare.   Only bad part is it doesn’t ship with batteries, so I had order batteries before I could use it.  So last weekend I finally had the batteries and a chance to test it out these are the results.

 To test the Smoke Genie, I set up a small still life set using a table, a black backdrop, a speed light with an umbrella, a light stand, a reflector, CTO gel, and some items from around the house. I went for something that could be a bit mystical and ended up with a bit of alchemist desk.  I did a variety of shots both with and without the smoke so I had a comparison. I also used two different attachments for the smoke machine, the want which allows you to precisely lay smoke and for lack of a better term the sponge which makes the smoke look a little closer to what you would get from dry ice.   Overall, I liked how the smoke hung and lingered, however the sponge attachment did make it look like dry ice smoke but it was quick to dissipate.  This could have been to the fact I was running an air purifier in the room, thus creating an air current so more testing might be needed.  I will say the smoke created from its fog juice did not have any noticeable smell, unlike the sweet-smelling smoke from the fog juice for other machines.  In conclusion I do see myself using this as a tool for some of my sessions and as away to expand my creativity.  Below are a few of the fully edited sample images.

ISO 100, Aperture F5, Shutter 1/15s, Focal Length 24mm

ISO 100, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/160s, Focal Length 24mm


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cobwebs Everywhere

On October 7 th , I did a studio spooky session with Coralinx Cosplay .   The central theme of this shoot was a pretty goth girl who had a fondness for spiders and decorating with cobwebs, making it a perfect Halloween session.   Note: Cobwebs are defined as abandoned or old spiderwebs that have collected dust.   Many cobwebs are the result of comb-footed spider (i.e., black widows) that make irregularly shaped webs.   Spiderwebs are active structures built to catch prey.   (Source: Western Exterminator Company) For these sessions, I used: Photography Equipment Other Equipment Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Westcott FJ400 2 Phottix Strobes 2 strip boxes 2 rectangular soft boxes 2 c-stands 3 light stands Backdrop stand Black seamless 2 Westcott silicon gels Tether cable Laptop Laptop holder Sandbags A-clamps Spyder Color checker Fake cobwebs Table ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2025 Year in Review and Looking Forward to 2026

This year was a bit interesting especially since during the day, I’m a government employee, which resulted in a lot of stress and a 42-day furlough.  I didn’t attend as many cosplay events with the D.C Cosplay group, now Costume and Camera, as I normally would have, due to schedule conflicts.  However, I traveled up to Poughkeepsie, New York for two photo events, one of which I was a featured photographer.  I attended two conventions, one of which didn’t turn out as expected and the other just confirmed my decision to take a break from it.  Though happily I did a lot of studio work this year, which I enjoyed.  But on the other hand, I lost my dear “studio supervisor”, my dog Teddy.  He liked to great clients and then “supervise” while lying/sleeping in his bed. I also started to work on the business side of my photography work, by investing in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) site to manage bookings, schedules, and payments. No more trying to juggle...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spooky in the Morning

On October 5 th , I did an on-location spooky session with Rebecca at Claude Moore Park.   The theme was Victorian ghost; however, it is hard to be a ghost at 9:30 in the morning on a bright sunny day.   I did my best to get a spooky look. For these sessions, I used: Photography Equipment Other Equipment Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Cannon Speed lights 1 30-inch umbrella Light stand Assistant Smoke Genie The setup The set up was relatively easy.  I mounted a Canon speed light on a light stand with an umbrella.  My assistant then held the light in the appropriate spots as we made our way around the park to different locations. Camera Settings This session was held outdoors in bright morning sun and was intended to look spooky, so I tried to keep the images dark.  Thus, I used ISO 100, which is great for sunny conditions.  I wanted to maintain a soft background as much a...
Post a Comment
Read more