I’ve been wanting to work with smoke bombs for a long time. The texture and color they bring to a photo are just unreal! I mean just look at all the cool compositions you can get on Pinterest. So when we headed to our annual cottage trip this summer, I took advantage of the giant yard we had to roam around, and my best friends to help me test out this cool prop! So this is what I learned in the very short amount of time we had to shoot.
Choosing Smoke Bombs
I got my smoke bombs at a local fireworks store called Rocket.ca. If you’re in Canada, they offer free shipping above $99. They had some cool mix and match bundle deals that were great for a first-timer like me to try out different types! If you’re in the States or anywhere else, check out Enola Gaye Smoke bombs, they’re the most famous ones!
Pricing
Keep in mind, smoke bombs are EXPENSIVE. The longest probably lasted a minute and each one averages out to approximately $10 CAD or around $7.5 USD. Some people have experienced duds from my research but I was lucky and all 6 of mine worked out just fine but keeping that in mind, you may want to get a couple more than you need just in case.
I bought a mix of micro, regular & burst smoke bombs just to test them out as I know I’ll want to do another shoot with these in the future! Here’s what I thought of each:
EG25 Micro Smoke
I thought these were pretty great for portraits, they don’t have as much smoke as the other two but packs enough for you to get a good smokey effect. Because of their smaller size, they’re also slightly cheaper, so if you want to experiment with a lot of colors, or just want a bit of smokiness, these are the best ones. Keep in mind though these only last around 30 seconds from the moment you pull that wire and for the first 5 to 10 seconds or so, it’ll just be white smoke as it fires up. Personally, that was a bit too short of a time for me to capture all the poses & angles I would have wanted.
WP40 Smoke Grenade
When you’re looking for smoke bombs, WP refers to Wire Pull. If you want to hold the smoke bomb while shooting, make sure to buy these ones! There are other bombs that require you to set it down on the ground and light up using a lighter, and those are probably not what you’re looking for. The WP40 was by far my favorite one out of the 3 types I bought. It gave a ton of smoke and lasted for quite a while (a little over a minute after the first couple seconds of just white smoke), allowing me to try different poses, and passing it onto my friends.
Burst Smoke Grenade
“Burst” refers to the fact that these grenades will have smoke coming out from both ends. These will look almost identical to the WP40 ones, except the fact that it’ll have arrows pointing to both ends. If you want a ton of smoke or to have it cover the entire background of your photo, I would say these are your go-to. They give you double the amount of smoke as the WP40 ones, but also keep in mind that means they burn out super fast. It felt like we only had a 20-second window to shoot with this one, similar to the Microsmokes.
Choosing Colors
Lastly, choose the colors wisely. Make sure they’re contrasting the backgrounds where you’ll be shooting. I chose 6 different colors for this shoot, and I knew my background was mainly going to be green so I didn’t choose that one. Even yellow was a little too similar to the background. The best colors were pink, blue & purple. Further, planning outfits that have a similar color to the smoke can create interesting shots!
Location & Safety
Always make sure you have permission to shoot at the location! We made sure our AirBnB host was aware that we wanted to shoot with smoke bombs and was granted permission before we brought them. You should be okay in less populated areas and some parks, but because they’re considered to be in the same category as fireworks, you may have problems if fireworks are illegal in the area you want to shoot at. Further, because it’s smoke, depending on where you’re shooting, it may get mistaken as a fire emergency, especially if you’re using plain black or white smoke. The police or the fire departments may get called (I have photography friends that experienced this first hand), so just keep that in mind when you’re choosing a location.
Safety
Although smoke bombs, in general, are quite safe, they are called smoke BOMBS for a reason, so always hold them at arm’s length if you can, and never aim it at someone when starting it. When you first pull the ring out, there may be sparks, and it may spit out a bit as it starts up. I found that with the burst grenades, it spat out a lot and we had sparks hit my calves during the shoot. It didn’t cause any burns or damage, but it did hurt (imagine pebbles being whipped at you).
Also, although they’re comfortable to hold, they can get burning hot once the smoke runs out, so make sure you have some concrete or bucket of water to throw them in afterward to avoid starting an accidental fire.
Stains
I personally didn’t experience this, but keep in mind that colored smoke can stain clothing, so don’t bring anything you’re particularly fond of to these shoots. Try to aim for darker clothing if you can, and again, don’t point the smoke directly at your clothes.
Health
Lastly, it’s pretty and all, but it’s still smoke, which means being in the environment for too long, or if you are shooting with thick smoke, you will experience watery eyes, and it is not easy to breathe in smoke!
Posing & Shooting
The number one thing I learned? YOU HAVE A VERY LIMITED TIME TO SHOOT. Altogether with the 6 smoke bombs I got, we probably had a total of 4 minutes of shooting time. If this is your first time like me, adjust your expectations and know that some smoke bombs are going to be wasted on just experimenting with movement, angles, and maybe just because you’re dying of coughs in the smoke.
Practice your poses!
That being said, make sure you plan out your shoots beforehand. Take TONS of test shots and if there’s movement involved, practice the movement while holding the smoke bomb WITHOUT setting it off first. I had a friend help me hold the smoke bomb so I could pose with 2 hands in some shots, so make sure to direct & practice with the friend as well before you set it off. The first couple of smoke bombs will probably be used to test out shots as well as your photographer figures out some camera settings too, so maximize the use of those smoke bombs by having at least 3 or 4 poses in mind so you can speed pose & get a bunch of shots so you can see which one you may want to repeat.
Communicate!
Communication is KEY! If you’re the photographer, know that you’re going to have to direct a lot more in these shoots, especially because of the short time constraint. Tell the model to move if the smoke is in her face, tell her where to wave the smoke if you happen to capture a good shot. Also if you’re shooting more than one person at a time, there is a lot of coordination that needs to happen (we thought we’d just use one of the micro smokes to get a group shot & didn’t plan much ahead and it was a disaster XD).
Weather
The wind is your worst enemy. Thankfully we didn’t get much that day, but I can’t imagine working with smoke bombs if there’s a ton of breeze. The smoke is easily blown away, and it’s hard enough to form shapes with them to begin with, so make sure you check the weather as well!
Background
Last but not least, we got some of our best shots when the smoke was just dissipating in the air after the bomb has finished. The wisps of smoke add a unique element to the shot and create an interesting atmosphere, compared to when we were trying to shoot with smoke as the main focus. I’d definitely recommend bringing some props to emphasize the model as the main focus and just using the smoke bombs as a background, rather than using it as the main prop when shooting.
Post Production Edits
One thing I found with editing was that the cooler colors give you more range to play with in terms of changing colors. With the warmer colors, it’s hard to change without making the skin look weird, especially as the smoke creates a foggy overlay on the person!
For instance, we used dark blue smoke for both of the shots above and below, but the colors can come out a lot more varied!
I’m definitely looking forward to using smoke bombs again for some shoots in the future! Next time, I’m hoping to do it in an abandoned industrial building or junkyard for some edgier vibes. I hope this article was helpful to you! Find more of my photo tips here! Let me know if you have ever used smoke bombs before in the comments!
Love,