@sequentialvibe commented on a recent post and I mentioned smoke grenades.  This triggered an idea for a post about smoke and lightpainting in the dark!  This is a quick selection of images where I've thrown smoke grenades or smaller smoke pellets to add atmosphere to the images shot in the dark.

***Shooting with Salski***

This is Sal posing whilst holding on to a burning smoke pellet which is probably not the safest thing to do.  I lit this shot with a backlight Godox AD200 and softboxed AD200 to camera high and right. Timing is everything with these shots and I seem to have loads of images where the smoke shrouded Sal's face. Shot handheld at 1/200th, focussing in the dark holding a LED panel isn't the easiest thing to do!

![50416324297_16863e28fd_o.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fastchrisuk/23uQnCTRMiWJJWfVDpq2HoUXSBLzts7U6hHbW53kcdaBLj9An1ZJ4UuoAPgcmAJTcTC85.jpg)

***Gina in the smoke***

This was a photoshoot where getting kicked out of the previous location ended up being quite fortuitous!  We landed inside this derelict colliery building and someone had illegally dumped loads of scrap tyres.  They were all wet where the rain had got in through the roof.  The wetness, the smoke and the multi-colour filters I was using all turned out nicely!

![Gina1.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fastchrisuk/23wM4rmae6uAxKUjkm5ZTSoEou7kv5p8oRUSAmfY7Ar15WRqLthMoZHMfpmCMuN6y2qsQ.jpg)

***Hanging around in caves in the dark with laser beams***

Another advantage of using smoke is that a laser beam catches the smoke and becomes more prominent in the images.  For bigger spaces like this cave it's necessary to use a larger smoke grenade.  But unfortunately, I always run out of grenades so end up throwing smaller smoke pellets all over the place!  The trouble with smoke is that the smoke can end up meaning you literally can't see anything for ages whilst waiting for the smoke to disperse.

![50073891778_074224f0a7_o.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fastchrisuk/23vrbnAjfEnvXaCXP3SdjRYBXh5RNUXRkJgss6oXaa2dKaKGoDwd1kWAJrpv5yvLboS2A.jpg)

***Concrete Nights***

Sometimes it's essential to use smoke in order to create seperation of the subject from the background.  Not using smoke here wouldn't have worked at all.   Another method for creating smoke is to use a vape pen and @fadetoblack here very kindly took a few "chuffs" to create the atmosphere!

![38420097965_01174b0c29_o.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fastchrisuk/23w2H2YHj1gxzAcJ12DXZ7EUo241HJuZhYFuG7BZA4jnZDTNVXkX3aHT19Q7wwsDT5QWk.jpg)

***Human Stalactites and Stalagmites***

I've been hesitant to use the word "cinematic" to describe some of my images; I'm not sure why?! This is a camera rotation image, shot in one exposure, where Tim kindly stumbled to the back of the cave to change the gel colour.  The smoke hanging in the air with textures all over the place is great to look at never mind photograph!

![28698070826_59d969f742_o.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fastchrisuk/23vsBuFdrRpyoWfxH1TfkVfyMLRf8dnPgF2QpkW8qXFGkyBthXaFUZgimEYm9m5ChtNJC.jpg)

***Neena excorsizing her inner demons***

With the use of smoke, the lasers stand out more meaning I can quicky bag a shot with Neena here posing in her horns!

![42911737370_f806cd5d3c_o.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fastchrisuk/23tm9L9Bfbw1Z5wm4AHdi3txkAtxyDw2S16gNeGcpS1MTRb4v8Tia4A2wVkqbd1qjRCRA.jpg)

***Neena strikes a pose***

Neena waving arms and legs all over the place whilst holding on to two burning smoke pellets.  Probably not the safest thing to ask a model to do but Neena was up for the challenge!  With this shot I used two strobes at the rear of frame with one gelled a light blue colour.  I haven't seen many others try to change the colour of the smoke in this way; I would have thought everyone would do this?!

![44863805774_6091cf891d_o.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fastchrisuk/23w2HY1SpyZBydeN4kr4gdFYFT1WxTUZGK2GS5UzcoFzmQudcWMita41CcGGAusfQrJ38.jpg)

**About me:**
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.

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If you want to see more examples of lightpainting, feel free to check out these guys: @fadetoblack,  @stepko, @gunnarheilmann, @mafufuma, @lichtkunstfoto, @yo-hoho, @oddballgraphics, @martbarras & @rod.evans.visual 

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