Proper Techniques to Shoot Vaporization Videos

Hello FC,

I wanted to make some videos of vapour but i never seem to capture the foggyness as well as i see it and as i see in the videos here.

Can you please share the best tips on how to do this? Either with a professional camera (my gf has a Canon 5D she might borrow) but also my iphone camera (for a quick peak).

I understand a dark background is better but that is pretty much it.

How should the camera be positioned to best capture vapour?
What should the lighting be?
Is it better to use more than 1 light?
Are there any specific set of things that must happen simultaneously for a proper footage?
These are some of my questions, be sure to include information if you deem it important.

Thanks in advance,

Most important thing to remember is to backlight the vapor. That means placing a light behind the cloud....usually from a slight low angle for this type of situation. This, along with a dark background will capture the vapor just fine. You only need more than one light if the levels in the room are too low, or you are going for a special look. Camera can be any angle you like, but I find a slight angle helps sometimes when trying to capture mist/vapor, etc.

Considering the background is in front of you, where do i position the light or, from where do i point it and in which direction?

When you say behind, do you mean that i place the camera for example, on my right side, pointing diagonally to the wall, to frame the bong as well, and the light is where?

What he means is that the direction of the light should be facing the vapor, preferably from a lower or higher angle so as not to create glare. Basically if you were sitting at a desk, the light would best be a foot or two to your left, facing you and tilted upwards at a 45 degree angle so that the vapor will be well, illuminated, by the light, if that makes any sense. As he said the dark background will also help make the white vapor stand out. Hope this helps mate.

Okay, i think i got it. Should the light be closer to the background or where i start releasing vapour?

daylight would be optimal, especially if you're using the iphone. If you're in low-light condtions, you'l need to use several lights, but don't aim them directly at the piece or you'll get reflection. An option to reduce reflection, which I recommend, is to soften the lights with a cover (white paper works well). A dark, solid background would be good.

Find something to rest your phone on so it stays stable; it's much harder to take good videos if you have to handhold the camera. Focus it on the piece and then start setting up lights. Check the phone to see if the piece appears well-lit. It's better to have too much light than not enough, because your iphone can correct for it. Just don't angle the lights at the camera or you can get overexposure (overly bright photos). Photography is a lot of trial and error, so have some fun playing around!

So, according to what you guys said so far, we got:

Best Conditions:

1- dark background
2- daylight

Lighting:

2- lighting should not be aimed at the piece to avoid reflection, angled at 45º or at least angled in relation to the vapour to better capture it.
3- lighting could use a light softer like a white sheet of paper to reduce reflection
4- light should be positioned about two feet away from the vapour stream source

Here is a diagram for basic three point lighting:



So as you see, the backlight is behind the object off to an angle. The light will in front of the background, but off camera at a low or high angle. If you want to soften your light, just bounce it off a wall.

Outdoors is fine as long as it is not too bright. If it is too bright you will only capture the thickest of vapor in most circumstances.

Very nice, thanks! Are all the lights the same intensity? I'm guessing no.

This will really help out with my filming of the vapro. I would have uploaded one by now but I just can't get the lighting right to showcase the vapor. Hopefully employing some of these techniques will render better results.

Generally the key light is brighter than the fill. It is what you use to create contrast/character...the fill is exactly that, it fills in the shadows, brings out detail. How much brighter/softer/darker is all dependent on the look you want to achieve and the subject.

Take a look at any interview and you will see your basic three point lighting in action. Sometimes there is a splash of light on the background and a rim light on the back of the persons head, etc as well.

Anywho, I am getting carried away (it's my career ) You really don't need anything too fancy to do what you require, but understanding these basics will go a long way in anything you shoot be it for this website or personal projects.

Have fun! Videotape/mem cards are cheap so you can make mistakes. Not like back in the day when I would shoot film...no rewind then

Edit: You can also use one light as a key and bounce it off a reflective surface pointed toward the area you want to fill. Its not as ideal, but workable if you only have one or two lights.

Salutations,

I find that my cannabic vapour becomes more visible when i use fresh batteries in my LED lamp as it allows me to locate it outside the scene since the flux is sufficient then. Some articulated holder (for the lamp) and a camera stand will certainly prove handy.

Another aspect of importance would be directionality of the LED light-source: i shield mine with a long dark tube...

I use the camera that's build-in in my laptop, that way I can just place the laptop on a table/stable surface, and set the screen to the angle I want(and therefor the cam at that angle)

I like that you're getting carried away, i always had a passion for photography although i never pursued this beyond amateur photography, my gf otoh is an arts major and she works in photography, so i'm used to it.

I'm gonna try with two lamps that have a white glass around to make for the diffused lighting (back and fill), and i'm gonna use another lamp (or maybe a led head light) as a keylight and go from there.

While I would not want to argue with a photography professional's opinion, with all due respect, I'd still offer a slightly different setting.

Think of sitting in a dimly lit room, at a poker table with a properly low-hanging metal shade and 100w bulb. By properly hung, I mean that the direct bulb light reaches just to the edges of the table and no further. The camera would be to your right, behind and slightly above your head-height, probably at an angle similar to how you would point backwards.

During my 15+ years in film/television I have had many arguments about my opinion...so all are welcome It is how we all learn and grow, amateurs and pros alike.

Philip Bloom has an excellent website and videos on youtube. Great resource, and very inspiring. Here is one of his shorts where he was testing out a Sony FS100. Just thought it might get gears turning for creative lighting/video. Cheers.



By studying and observing, you can learn alot. For example, from this screenshot we can see an example of rembrandt lighting:



Rembrandt lighting definition:

http://www.sekonic.com/Classroom/Articles/Rembrandt-Lighting.aspx

Great points Tweek!!!

I'd like to add that lighting is much more important than the camera used (to an extent). If your Iphone is a newer gen one, it should work just great. I've seen some stunning iPhone footage. Make sure you are using a tripod to eliminate camera shake.

Secondly, the brightness of your light source makes a huge difference. Along with the lights intensity, the distance the light travels will have an impact (inverse-square law). If you have access to a window with the sun shining through, they work great as they create a shit ton of contrast.

As hitnrun was alluding to (I think), you can also create contrast using indoor lighting using flags and snoots (as in the metal shade). This prevents the light from entering the camera lens, causing reduction of contrast and glare.

Just to say thanks to everyone who helped me out. I ended up using just one back light + dark backround, my GF helped me out too and did the editing.

Here's the end result: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-hi.4693/page-126#post-344865

Excellent work!

Thanks Tweek, i think it is fair to say you were the most helpful, although i found all the inputs given very helpful and insightful.

Thank you all. I'm uploading another one i made, but with the Solo and i have yet another in the editing phase (thanks to my loving GF. ) with my Wychwood.

It was a very cinematographic Sunday.

EDIT: here are the other two:

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/wychwood-vaporizers-uk-log-vape.6379/page-21#post-344923

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/arizer-solo.3833/page-479#post-344902