How I did it

I had wanted to get the information up sooner on how to create this.... something about a house full of boys slows me down sometimes.

So... here we go!

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I have a candle set on the table. One with a nice large wick works best, giving a longer time to take pictures before the smoke blows out. Side Note: I'm going to town tomorrow to find an incense stick to see it's results.

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I did this at night with the lights off. On the side place a light, desk lamp, flashlight, just some sort of light source to illuminate the smoke. Behind the candle place something black. I happened to have a large sheet of black board. Maybe you have a dark blanket, a skirt, just something black for a background.

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I used my 50mm lens. I used all manual settings.

ISO 400

Shutter 1/80

f/2.2

WB Auto

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I realize not everyone has a big aperture like the one I used. Just get creative with you settings and maybe get more light on your smoke to help you out with that.

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Do NOT use a flash. I thought I would try it and it illuminates the background too much.

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Set you focus to Manual Focus. Focus on the area to have it ready. Nothing like taking out of focus pictures.... *points at self*

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Once you have your pictures it's time to edit.

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First thing I did was go to levels and bring in each level to the middle, lightening the lights and darkening the background.

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Now click back on your background picture. Duplicate it by pressing Ctrl J. Then change the blending mode to Overlay

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Now click on your Gradient Tool. Next choose your foreground and background colors to what you would like.

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Go to your picture and drag the Gradient Tool in whichever way you want the colors to go. I know, clear as mud. Just experiment with the colors at this point.

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Please let me know if this isn't clear enough and I will try to clear anything up for you.

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NOW GO TRY IT!!!!!!!