After some inspiration of the internet i decided to have a go.
So firstly what do we need:
-Smoke Grenade (bomb) These I found online. Prices range from £5-10 each.
-Camera Canon 7D
-Lens Canon EF 16-35mm
Lights/Flashes Canon speedlite 600 EX-RT
-Model Sophia, the best friend who puts up with all my photo taking.
-Location Some where out in the open.
-Other Tripod, Large umbrella x2, Plastics bags (It rains a lot in the UK)
Whilst waiting for the smoke bombs to arrive, I had a look on YouTube for some tips and to give me a rough idea what to expect.
The smoke bombs arrive a couple of days after ordering them, they do state on them that they are illegal in public places. This did slightly change our plans of the location as we were thinking more of an urban setting, so to be polite we instead decided to go up to the hills of Buxton to a spot we use to go to when we were younger.
Of course on the day of the shoot it was overcast with frequent mini rain showers and the odd appearance of the sun in between. We gathered up the gear from the car and headed off on a 45 minute trek to the location and once there we found a spot for the equipment. Using the umbrellas and plastic bags I create a little den for the camera gear and parts, I like to be ready for a sudden downfall of rain.
We are happy with our test shots, no strong wind, so its time to release the smoke. You do need a good tug to release the pin (if you do use these please make sure you know which end the smoke is going to be released from. it will state on the grenade which end)
Personally I would not use if the winds are stronger than a light breeze and it will pay off to be patient if they are.
The one piece of advise that I would definitely pass on is practice your shots before hand. Practice the movements of the model and only when your happy with the test shots set off the grenade. This is because the smoke grenades last about 70 secs with around 60 seconds shooting time. Also think that each time you use one that is £5-10 per smoke bomb.
Here are some of the final images from this shoot.
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