Smoke Machines at Receptions

How do you make the pictures look crisper when dealing with a smoke machine? There was one at the wedding I shot last Friday. Framing and composition and all that are fine, but everything looks hazy. It's driving me nuts. Do I just leave it and hope they realize the haziness is due to the smoke?

Shooting thru the smoke will always give you a haze. There is no way around it. Putting a light behind the smoke will give you some awesome images however.

jcolman wrote in post #12633732
Shooting thru the smoke will always give you a haze. There is no way around it. Putting a light behind the smoke will give you some awesome images however.

Oh yeah, got lots of those! Spotlight on the bride and her dad during the father/daughter dance through the haze.... it's gorgeous! I just wish it had been the bride and groom and not the bride and her dad.

PeaceFire wrote in post #12633791
Oh yeah, got lots of those! Spotlight on the bride and her dad during the father/daughter dance through the haze.... it's gorgeous! I just wish it had been the bride and groom and not the bride and her dad.

I hear you. Sometimes it seems like my best "emotional" photos are of the bride and her dad instead of the bride and groom.

Bring down the shadows and darks tab (or the blacks) and boost contrast. This will take care of a lot of your "flat" issues.

Not sure which I hate more, smoke or colored lights!! Both have a negative effect on images. Personally, I let the couple know, the day of the wedding, that the images could be affected by either. That way, the end result is a decision made by the couple. I'll even go so far as to show them an image or two that has been hit.

images by Paul wrote in post #12634565
Not sure which I hate more, smoke or colored lights!! Both have a negative effect on images. Personally, I let the couple know, the day of the wedding, that the images could be affected by either. That way, the end result is a decision made by the couple. I'll even go so far as to show them an image or two that has been hit.

Colored lights from DJ's are fine as long as you are not shooting with them over your shoulder. They can make really cool backlighting during dancing.

images by Paul wrote in post #12634565
Not sure which I hate more, smoke or colored lights!! Both have a negative effect on images.

I love both. Both have an awesome effect on images.

cdifoto wrote in post #12637335
I love both. Both have an awesome effect on images.

Agreed. Cheap DJ disco lights normally look pretty tacky... but when there's some haze it lights up the room and makes photos look very atmospheric.