Photographing smoke

On Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:35:11 -0800 (PST), rarj wrote:

Hi All.

I have a Canon Powershot A400 Point & Shoot, and am quite satisfied
with its performance.

However, I'd like to know of techniques to photograph smoke. Not in a
studio. but outside, on streets. Ive seen that the smoke comes up very
faint on the photo.

If the smoke or haze is between you and the subject it can be enhanced with
fill-flash. This won't help if it's more diffuse and too far from the camera for
the flash to illuminate it, or it is further than the subject that you want to
photograph. If shooting night-lit scenes then you can use available
house-lights, shop-lights, street-lighting, and even cars' headlights to your
advantage on more distant smoke and haze in your scene, depending on your
orientation to the lights and smoke/haze.


On another note, are there polarizers available for Canon Powershot
cameras ? and can the 2.4x zoom be extended optically ?

It depends if your model of Powershot can take filters or has a filter-adapter
available for it or not. Looking at a review of your camera online, it appears
that you can't use filters nor does it have an add-on filter-adapter available
for it. This is not a problem for many other Powershot camera models.

If you do get a camera that has filter-threads or a filter-adapter then you can
use either a linear or circular polarizer with most P&S cameras.The linear
variety being much less expensive. DSLRs all require a circular polarizer due to
the way their auto-focusing mechanism works. I've only run into one P&S camera
so far where the linear polarizer can alter the exposure reading and
white-balance different from what it should be (this is rare). If in doubt use a
circular polarizer where this type of unwanted effect is prevented. In a pinch I
have still used filters and close-up lenses with cameras that don't have
filter-threads or filter-adapters for them by simply hand-holding the filter or
close-up lens over the front of the camera's own lens. In some cases, if the
time and effort is warranted, by building my own slide-on filter adapter for
some P&S cameras that don't accept filters. Being careful when constructing it
that it doesn't fit too snug, if the camera's lens retracts it will just
slide-off and not harm the camera's gears and motors.

Any camera purposely designed to accept filters can have its own zoom optically
increased with any number of very good teleconverter add-on lenses. One of the
better performers recently is the 1.7x teleconverter made by Sony, the
VCL-DH1758. It seems to work better on Canon cameras than Canon's own
teleconverter and is generally less expensive. This, of course, will be of no
benefit to the camera that you presently have, as there's no easy way to attach
any add-on converter lenses to it. Due to the extra weight of these larger
add-on lenses and them needing to be perfectly centered and aligned with the
camera's own lens, there's no easy way to hand-hold it to a camera nor easily
create an adequate slide-on adapter. At least not without a lot of construction
and including in the design a secure bracket attached to the tripod-socket.

It sounds like it might be time for you to move to a camera capable of having
some useful accessories for it, to expand on your photography needs. There are
many inexpensive newer (or newer used) cameras that would work, being designed
to accept filters and add-on lenses. You don't have to buy the latest and
greatest, just something that can accept filters. In fact some 3-5 year old
cameras are better than many of the newer cameras being made today. Check which
cameras in the last 3-5 years were getting rave reviews at the time that can
also accept filters or has a filter-adapter available for it.