Hello, Some Smoke Photos, And Questions

[Not Another Tool]

Hello, I'm new to this forum (sort of) I've browsed through some of the threads when looking for hookah tips and tricks. I like to smoke nakhla tobacco for the most part. I use a glass bowl that works wonderfully. I've tried a lot of different juices and other liquids in the base but eventually I went back to straight water and its stayed like that for a while. For people who have put stuff into their bases do you continue to do so, and what produces the best results for you. In a few weeks it is my birthday and I want to get a new hookah and I was wondering if there are any specific types of hookahs that lead a better smoke? I know about the wider stem, better hose, and amount of air flow stuff already.

I'm into photography, writing, and reading, which all go well with a hookah session. When I get bored I tend to take a lot of pictures of myself smoking. I think I have gotten pretty good at it but constructive criticism is always a good thing as is concept ideas or suggestions.

I hope its not rude to make this sort of post or against the rules (I did read them)

Here are some examples of my photography dealing with smoke

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Here is a flickr set of my smoke work if anyone cares to take a look
http://www.flickr.com/photos/notanothertoo...57622274982048/

[Tom1]

I hope its not rude to make this sort of post or against the rules (I did read them)

Here is a flickr set of my smoke work if anyone cares to take a look
http://www.flickr.com/photos/notanothertoo...57622274982048/

Welcome, saying you read the rules in the first post is always a good thing.

Some of the photos you have look pretty cool, I'm no aficionado though.

[JOE]

very nice pictures, KM's are great hookahs, best pull from any hookah ive smoked

[Not Another Tool]

thanks. I'm the kind of person who likes to research stuff a lot before I buy it. Is there a better way to post pictures than just the attachments. I tried to link them from my flickr site but it didn't work (maybe i just don't know how). I just think this would be an approiate place to show them and that other people might enjoy them. Most of the photos are of me because I think it is kind of rude to be the annoying camera guy who takes to many photos during a social event (like a hookah session).

[JOE]

yah to post pics just use the URL from the picture in between [ i m g ] url here [/ i m g] with no spaces between anything


also i really love the lighting and detail in all of your pictures, what gear are you using Edited September 7, 2009 by Jen and Joe

[Not Another Tool]

Thanks. Generally I use a rebel xti with my 50 lens (until it died) and now I'm stuck with my kit lens, a shutter release cable, and occasionally a flash unit.

Does anyone have any ideas about interesting smoke shot situations?

Here's some more pictures



This one needs to be viewed larger for detail








Not hookah related but I think its cool looking so i thought i'd share

[Not Another Tool]

Last four ones

[Zinite]

Welcome! The best smoking hookahs (it's debatable) are high quality Egyptians. These include Khalil Mamoon (KM) and Magdy Zidan (MZ, they are going out of business though).

I know you read the rules (and thank you for reading them!) but just an FYI - this forum takes the no-illegal-drug-references VERY seriously.

The most important advice I have for you is: ASK QUESTIONS. I wasted hundreds of dollars on shitty hookahs before I found this site.

Again, welcome.

[Not Another Tool]

Welcome! The best smoking hookahs (it's debatable) are high quality Egyptians. These include Khalil Mamoon (KM) and Magdy Zidan (MZ, they are going out of business though).
I know you read the rules (and thank you for reading them!) but just an FYI - this forum takes the no-illegal-drug-references VERY seriously.

Thanks for the information. All those photos were just me smoking straight tobacco with nothing else in them. My brother and I share a hookah so we take it as a common courtesy not to do anything like that to the hookah or let any of our friends do the same. I can definitely understand why they would take the illegal drug references seriously here. I've gotten harassed once while I was smoking at a coffee shop b/c they thought I was smoking something else.

Random story time
When I was at a coffee shop smoking with a friend, enjoying some good conversation when a group of teenagers came over and asked to smoke the hookah. They were probably around 17 to 18 (legal smoking age here is 19). So I naturally turned them down b/c I don't like annoying people interrupting my hookah sessions, don't want to get a fine, and in general like to be left alone when I'm smoking. I wonder if anyone else has had any experiences like that?

Also I like to put a lot of ice in my base when I smoke so today I thought I would take it a little further by putting the base in a bucket of ice cold water and taping two ice packs to the middle part above the ports. Lots of smoke that was very cold but no taste which is what I enjoy most so I don't think I'll be doing that again. What would it be like to smoke with a warm liquid in the base like warm water, hot chocolate, or coffee? Would it be tasty but uncomfortably warm?

[Zinite]

Welcome! The best smoking hookahs (it's debatable) are high quality Egyptians. These include Khalil Mamoon (KM) and Magdy Zidan (MZ, they are going out of business though).
I know you read the rules (and thank you for reading them!) but just an FYI - this forum takes the no-illegal-drug-references VERY seriously.

Thanks for the information. All those photos were just me smoking straight tobacco with nothing else in them. My brother and I share a hookah so we take it as a common courtesy not to do anything like that to the hookah or let any of our friends do the same. I can definitely understand why they would take the illegal drug references seriously here. I've gotten harassed once while I was smoking at a coffee shop b/c they thought I was smoking something else.

Random story time
When I was at a coffee shop smoking with a friend, enjoying some good conversation when a group of teenagers came over and asked to smoke the hookah. They were probably around 17 to 18 (legal smoking age here is 19). So I naturally turned them down b/c I don't like annoying people interrupting my hookah sessions, don't want to get a fine, and in general like to be left alone when I'm smoking. I wonder if anyone else has had any experiences like that?

Also I like to put a lot of ice in my base when I smoke so today I thought I would take it a little further by putting the base in a bucket of ice cold water and taping two ice packs to the middle part above the ports. Lots of smoke that was very cold but no taste which is what I enjoy most so I don't think I'll be doing that again. What would it be like to smoke with a warm liquid in the base like warm water, hot chocolate, or coffee? Would it be tasty but uncomfortably warm?

Great question. Here's how I've seen it explained. When you make hot tea, you use boiling water so that the flavor transfers well to the water. Same with hookah. If you use slightly warm water, you get better flavor. The trade off with this is that the warmer the water, the less dense the smoke. So with cold water you get HUGE clouds but little flavor, but with hot water you get small clouds and awesome flavor. I find that room temperature water, or hot water from the faucet is best. I never put ice in the base or ice bucket any more.

[kdkhookah]

Most of the photos are of me because I think it is kind of rude to be the annoying camera guy who takes to many photos during a social event (like a hookah session).

Here's some advice given to me by my photography teacher. Tell everyone you will be taking pictures. Just sit there and keep taking pictures. Eventually people will forget about the camera. This will allow you to get really great, intimate pictures of people just being themselves. I used this strategy and got amazing pictures. Your first few 20 or 30 or so will probably be people posing for a camera, but, like I said, after they get used to it being there, they will just be themselves. I don't a photographer can ever be the "annoying camera guy" unless you have the lens in someone's face. If you are taking pictures of strangers, it takes a while for people to get used to it. They may also not like it at all; I almost got beat up one time. But if they are people you know then it won't be that difficult.

Oh and you will find that Khalil Mamoon (KM) is the hookah of all hookahs around here.

[Zinite]

Most of the photos are of me because I think it is kind of rude to be the annoying camera guy who takes to many photos during a social event (like a hookah session).

Here's some advice given to me by my photography teacher. Tell everyone you will be taking pictures. Just sit there and keep taking pictures. Eventually people will forget about the camera. This will allow you to get really great, intimate pictures of people just being themselves. I used this strategy and got amazing pictures. Your first few 20 or 30 or so will probably be people posing for a camera, but, like I said, after they get used to it being there, they will just be themselves. I don't a photographer can ever be the "annoying camera guy" unless you have the lens in someone's face. If you are taking pictures of strangers, it takes a while for people to get used to it. They may also not like it at all; I almost got beat up one time. But if they are people you know then it won't be that difficult.

Oh and you will find that Khalil Mamoon (KM) is the hookah of all hookahs around here.

Great advice for photos

[inpala]

Nice photos! Maybe once I actually purchase my own Hookah, I'll upload my very own photos.

[ProbablyTaken]

You doing this pictures in HDR? Or filtering after the fact?

I am not a photographer per say, but I do a LOT of Photoshop work with photos for design projects.

[Arcane]

Is there a better way to post pictures than just the attachments. I tried to link them from my flickr site but it didn't work (maybe i just don't know how).

I prefer people attaching the pics to the forum. makes for a good thumbnail size and it doesnt get blocked while im at work.

[Not Another Tool]

You doing this pictures in HDR? Or filtering after the fact?

I am not a photographer per say, but I do a LOT of Photoshop work with photos for design projects.

I shoot in RAW format (large unrestricted files) instead of jpegs because I get more data and jpegs automatically decide what is pure black and pure white but RAWs don't so I can get more detail and color from the image. But no they're not HDR although some of them might be toned like an hdr image. The only time I really like to do hdr images is for landscapes and then I do true tone hdr (meaning the photo looks like a normal one except that the ground and sky are evenly exposed). I occasionally use photoshop but i prefer lightroom, especially since it lets me organize thousands of large image files.

back to hookah stuff
Does anyone else use multiple layers of foil? I've tried it a few times and it seems to roast the tobacco a lot more instead of burning it. I've had some good sessions with it. Some more photos that I want to try out are the cheerios smoke rings (I can't do this trick). A large smoke ring and a smaller one going through it (can't do this one either). The double smoke ring using one finger pressed against my mouth to split the smoke (can occasionally do this one). Any advice one how to do these and other smoke tricks would be much appreciated.

Has anyone noticed any certain lighting situations that make the smoke look cool?
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[Santino]

So these are the pictures you and Neils were telling me about. Pretty badass.

[Zinite]

I've never used more than one layer of foil. If you feel like you need to use more layers, you're doing it wrong

[Not Another Tool]

I've never used more than one layer of foil. If you feel like you need to use more layers, you're doing it wrong

I've had some really good results both ways. The first layer of foil I basically poke around 10 huge holes in it and then the top layer I poke a lot of smaller holes. I've gotten a lot more smoke this way with it tasting better also. No burnt flavor or ash flavor or too hot of smoke. A good tasty, smooth, and thick smoke session that lasts for a long time. I've only tried it with al fakher so far so it might work best with a really wet tobacco. I'll take some pictures to show you the method

So far the best results for me getting the smoke to appear very clear cut is to have a black background and a flash unit bouncing light off of the ceiling. Anyone have any ideas or memories of when the smoke looked vibrant or clear cut.

this is kind of what I'm talking about

[scratchy]

Awesome, another photographer.

I've played around with some smoketography and I've gotten some good results.

My favorite setup is as follows. 1 strobe to the side of my face with a second strobe directly behind me so that my head blocks most of the light. The front strobe I dial down quite a bit while the rear I bump it up to 90% or so. Sometimes I even play around with red and orange gels on the rear strobe.

The most important thing is the strobe firing into the smoke into the camera