Hi all, I want to try and introduce some smoke/fog but not sure what is the best way to do this. I don't want to spend a fortune and wondering if you might be able to point me in the way of something basic and relatively low cost for the tine being. Thanks
Smoke/fog machine
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TimHughes
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I got one from gear for music, something like this https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-an...with-LEDs-and-5L-Fog-Fluid-by-Gear4music/2RDA
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Scooter
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Hi Ciaran,There are lots of choices, I'm drawing @Scooter into this, as he has a lot of knowledge of them
First off, it is all fog. If there is such a thing as a "smoke machine", I've never seen one, and you don't want one - you should not use smoke in an enclosed space. Fog though, is perfectly safe to breathe in reasonable concentrations. You cannot colour the fog (by adding food dye or otherwise). If you see coloured clouds in a shot, it's either lit with coloured light, or it is actually smoke from a pyrotechnical bomb - do not breathe this.
The basic workhorse fog machine is one of these for £50 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126439028191
It seems it's impossible to buy one without LEDs on the front these days. If you're shooting with flash, these won't be bright enough to show up in your shots, but if they are a problem, turn them off, or, if it's not possible to turn them off, open the machine and snip the wires to the LEDs. 900 to 1200 Watts is a good ballpark for the heater, as you can run it on a domestic socket, and will reheat in about 30 seconds. More powerful fog machines don't typically give you more fog, they just heat up quicker. The 400Watt unit Tim linked to will also be fine - it will just take a while longer for the reheat cycle to complete. One advantage of a lower powered heater though is that you could run it off an inverter/battery pack such as the LP800 for use away from mains power.
This is the fluid you want: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333133382641
I know it says on the container that it's heavier than air when vaporised, but this is a lie. It won't, as they claim, give you a "dry ice effect". It is the most dense fluid though and if you do want a cloud/dry ice effect, you just need to push the output of the fog machine through a piece of 120mm diameter collapsible heating duct filled with about 8 large freezer blocks. It'll stay on the floor for a minute or so, unless it contacts a heat source (such as a live human) in which case it will start to rise and coil around the heat source.
You need to light fog from the back (upstage), to see the structure, or from the side to create solid looking clouds.
This is backlit chilled fog:-
View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/53593113797/in/dateposted-public/
I had 3 blue backlights in this shot, left, centre and right.
In the studio, make sure all doors and windows are closed as even the smallest of spaces will have its own air currents and your fog may not go where you intended
Fog is also essential for showing laser patterns
View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/50484071621/in/dateposted-public/
Here's the fog video I made a few years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyQkJZuhGos
I bought one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CR15FVT7?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 for our Halloween display this year and was impressed with its output and control for its small size(with half an eye on storing it after).
For the low lying dry ice effect, a length of central vacuum pipe or other thin wall pvc pipe of about 1 1/2 - 2" diameter, filled with marbles entrapped in the pipe via criss-crossed threads across the ends between holes in the ends of the pipe to keep the marbles from falling out. With them placed in the freezer for several hours and then positioned so that the fog from your fogger machine must pass through it. There will be plenty of room between the marbles for the fog to pass and they will cool the fog sufficiently for it to settle like the fog from dry ice. This cools the fog sufficiently to make it lay low like dry ice fog. If you will need use fog for longer than 15 minutes or so, it would be wise to prepare several marble filled pipes and remove them as needed for continued shoots.
I've found that fog bursts of only 10-15 seconds or less is all that is needed for my 19 X 23' photo studio. Several of these bursts relatively close together will fill the studio to the point that a long break is needed for it to clear. I now use "Fast Dissipating Fog Juice" and this has helped, but we have still needed frequent breaks. My fogger is one of the 900 watt units (I think I over bought for my need). They have since come out with the small portable units and one of these would likely fill my need, but I don't use fog that often, so will likely be keeping what I have for a while.
I mounted my fogger to a piece of plywood and placed a brass 1/4-20 threaded insert in a hole through the center of this plywood piece, and two more spaced apart in the end of the plywood below the nozzle end of the fogger . I most often attach this to one of my lesser used tripods as it provides a good variable height method of supporting the fogger. When cooled fog is needed, a magic arm attached to one of these front 1/4-20 threaded inserts in the plywood, with a magic clamp attached to the opposite end of the arm provides a way to hold the cold pvc pipe / marbles in front of the fogger nozzle.
Since fog juice is water based, I've found that running some distilled water through the fogger after using it, cleans out the remaining fog juice chemicals and keeps the fogger working well when needed. Several gallons of Distilled Water are always in my gear closet, since I use a fabric steamer often to remove backdrop wrinkles and fold lines. Even when on an overhead roller system, wrinkles can be a bother if I haven't used that backdrop for a while.
Charley
I've found that fog bursts of only 10-15 seconds or less is all that is needed for my 19 X 23' photo studio. Several of these bursts relatively close together will fill the studio to the point that a long break is needed for it to clear. I now use "Fast Dissipating Fog Juice" and this has helped, but we have still needed frequent breaks. My fogger is one of the 900 watt units (I think I over bought for my need). They have since come out with the small portable units and one of these would likely fill my need, but I don't use fog that often, so will likely be keeping what I have for a while.
I mounted my fogger to a piece of plywood and placed a brass 1/4-20 threaded insert in a hole through the center of this plywood piece, and two more spaced apart in the end of the plywood below the nozzle end of the fogger . I most often attach this to one of my lesser used tripods as it provides a good variable height method of supporting the fogger. When cooled fog is needed, a magic arm attached to one of these front 1/4-20 threaded inserts in the plywood, with a magic clamp attached to the opposite end of the arm provides a way to hold the cold pvc pipe / marbles in front of the fogger nozzle.
Since fog juice is water based, I've found that running some distilled water through the fogger after using it, cleans out the remaining fog juice chemicals and keeps the fogger working well when needed. Several gallons of Distilled Water are always in my gear closet, since I use a fabric steamer often to remove backdrop wrinkles and fold lines. Even when on an overhead roller system, wrinkles can be a bother if I haven't used that backdrop for a while.
Charley
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Petrochemist
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When I've used my smoke machine outside, (powered by an inverter) I found even what seemed calm days had enough breeze to disperse, the fog almost immediately. So there will probably be mains available in most locations they'll work.
Recommendations would depend on how much output you want, for fog in close up shots a vape would be ample