How to Capture Smoke and Steam in Food Photography

Top tips for capturing smoke and steam

• Light from the side or slightly behind so the light hits the smoke and separates it from the photography background. You can use artificial light or window light.

• Use a shutter speed that freezes the action to some extent – around 1/160 or 1/200 with studio flash. Some smoke will still blur, but distinct trails and wisps will be frozen. Avoid slow shutter speeds – you just get a foggy blur.

• Experienced photographer Cath Lowe recommends using incense sticks. She says, "They give off plenty of smoke and burn for a long time. While they may drop ash over your scene, they’re unlikely to burn your house – keep a mug of water nearby to drop them into. One issue is too much smoke making the scene look unreal, so take a number of shots and move the incense sticks around to vary the effect."

• Check for room draughts. A window, or even you moving towards the scene, can blow the steam sideways and completely change how it looks.

• It almost goes without saying that we recommend using a tripod. A remote shutter will help if you want to blow out a candle out on set or control smoke.

• Another trick is to keep your drink or soup on a low boil, or microwave it with clingfilm on top, ready to place at the last minute, but be careful, steam can burn. If you’re shooting directly onto a surface, a wipe-clean backdrop is useful here too.

• As with any action shot, have a few safety shots of your final setup in the bag before going for the action, in case you need to comp later if it all goes T-up!
  

What photography backdrop should I use?

We recommend choosing one that allows the wisps to show up. Smoke and steam are white so they instantly disappear against a white background. Dark backdrops are best, but soft or bright colours also work – anything that creates contrast with the white swirls.