Found the links. First few are about smoke art, then there's a really awesome photography/lighting blog that I found by going through comments on flickr. I forget how I originally came across the smoke art, but here's the first links:
Article on Photocritic.org
Awesome smoke art images and some great info
Another smokeart tut
"artsmoke" flickr group
Now, here's the articles I read on Strobist that have some really great info about lighting (a lot of it is using an external flash, but I find the techniques useful for any type of light):
Lighting 101: Cereal Box Snoots and GoBo's
Free and So Easy: DIY Grid Spots for Your Flash
On Assignment: Blind Snoot Portrait
On Assignment: Conference Room Quickie
I've come to accept the fact that ultra-compact and point-n-shoot cameras like ours generally don't have as much manual adjustment as I'd like. However, instead of buying a new camera and expensive lenses and such, I'm now focusing on the photos themselves and not as much on the method of capture (it's almost always same settings, just adjust white-balance).
My point is that when your subject looks great, it's hard not to get a great photo. So many people (myself included) will try and try to take a good picture in a crappy setting when all that really needs done is messing with the environment a bit.
Shit, I'm starting to ramble, I'll cut myself off now
Article on Photocritic.org
Awesome smoke art images and some great info
Another smokeart tut
"artsmoke" flickr group
Now, here's the articles I read on Strobist that have some really great info about lighting (a lot of it is using an external flash, but I find the techniques useful for any type of light):
Lighting 101: Cereal Box Snoots and GoBo's
Free and So Easy: DIY Grid Spots for Your Flash
On Assignment: Blind Snoot Portrait
On Assignment: Conference Room Quickie
I've come to accept the fact that ultra-compact and point-n-shoot cameras like ours generally don't have as much manual adjustment as I'd like. However, instead of buying a new camera and expensive lenses and such, I'm now focusing on the photos themselves and not as much on the method of capture (it's almost always same settings, just adjust white-balance).
My point is that when your subject looks great, it's hard not to get a great photo. So many people (myself included) will try and try to take a good picture in a crappy setting when all that really needs done is messing with the environment a bit.
Shit, I'm starting to ramble, I'll cut myself off now
There's some links I found a month ago that had some really good photography tips, if I find 'em in my history I'll send 'em your way.