Dave gets very excited when it comes to smoke art and took us through the learning curve he had endured over his five years in this area, the failures and the impressive successes he has produced and how we can go about trying this for ourselves.
Dave explained everything from the kit he uses to produce his smoke art, the minimum kit required, picking the best spot to set up your kit, setting up the camera, how to assemble the shot, positioning the flash, getting the perfect exposure and finally telling us that once we were happy with the picture to take plenty of photographs and use different items to make the smoke twist and turn.
Next, using one of his own shots we were taken through choosing the best photograph, rotating and looking at them from different views, tweaking, composing, cleaning up, sharpening and adding colour for the perfect result.
I feel a number of club members had considered trying this sort of photography but alas were feeling as frustrated as a pyromaniac in a petrified forest as we were unsure on a number of areas and left the club with new found confidence and alas an urge to burn incense sticks and chant.
Tonight we also welcomed two new members to the club who may have thought this was Pyromaniacs Anonymous rather than WMCC. Sorry gents.
How do you make a small fortune in photography?
Start with a large one
If you would like to see more of Dave's smoke art please visit www.smokeart.co.uk.