B/W self portrait

[alfa147x]

Hey guys!

I really want to get a good picture of my smoking a cigar.

Kinda like this:
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/mil/mil0809/mil080900041/3526578-portrait-of-the-man-smoking-a-cigar.jpg


But I would prefer to have it more cropped into my face. I have a large house that I'll be living in for the next 3 months (work) but it doesnt have any furniture. I'v got a lot of room to work with. A couple of questions:
How can I make the background appear black with out having a black back drop? Also how can I make the smoke stick out?

I have two calumet genesis 200 and a small canon flash for my camera.

Thanks for any tips!
Alfa

[ElectricDreams]

Smoke has to be lit directly. So if you use the calumet as a key light to light your face and and the other to fill on the other side, place the small flash directly under where you are blowing the smoke. It will really bring out the smoke since you'll have three sources of light on it. Just play around a lot and you'll find something you like.

The black background maybe hard but work in a really dark room. It will be tough to see and you'll probably have to set the camera for manual focus but it will pay off.