Two circular vortex rings propagate in air seeded by smoke

Two circular vortex rings propagate in air seeded by smoke

By Joseph Straccia for Get Wet 2016.

Two circular vortex rings propagate in air seeded by smoke. Direction of motion is left to right. Ring diameter is on the order of 5cm. Lighting is from an off camera flash in high speed sync mode.

 

Experiment Report:

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23 Comments. Leave new

  • Jason Savath
    Sep 25, 2016 22:45

    The smoke rings are well defined and fluid flow is exhibited. The white smoke and the black background definitely shows contrast.

    Reply
  • Branden Goldenberg
    Sep 25, 2016 14:18

    Great contrast. Stopping the motion very well with the short shutter speed. Having the jellyfish and the ring in such detail is a huge plus too!

    Reply
  • Sierra Castillo
    Sep 23, 2016 10:56

    The focus is really, really good. The contrast between the white and black is striking. I love that you can actually see the layers forming.

    Reply
  • Harrison Lien
    Sep 22, 2016 16:29

    This photo is really nice. Nice good clean crisp smoke shot. Good precise photographic technique.

    Reply
  • Alexander Thompson
    Sep 21, 2016 14:55

    Incredible job capturing the layers in the smoke ring, like an onion or a tree. The detail is truly stunning. It sounds like you put in a lot of time and effort to create a setting where the light would reflect off of the smoke ring just right. I hope you feel your time was rewarded with this image because this is truly stunning. Great job!

    Reply
  • Daniel Luber
    Sep 21, 2016 12:28

    The amount of time an effort in capturing this difficult image is what really impresses me about this image. I am fascinated with the overlapping rings of the flow. I am also interested in seeing the original image. great job over all.

    Reply
  • Katie Gresh
    Sep 21, 2016 12:26

    1. The image exhibits good contrast.
    2. The flow phenomena is clearly illustrate and well captured.
    3. The photographic technique is well done with good highlights and shadows used to show the flow phenomena.

    Reply
  • Zachary Cymanski
    Sep 21, 2016 12:25

    I am fascinated by the left vortex ring as you can see the movement from left to right. The contrast is great and i like how the smoke is brighter compared to other smoke images on here. I am a little distracted by the right vortex ring because its brighter but doesn’t carry as much information as the left one. Great focus and seems very difficult to capture with such cleaness.

    Reply
  • Jeremy Parsons
    Sep 21, 2016 12:24

    The skeletal effect you have captured in the vortex rings in very interesting and crisply in focus. The grey scale is very appealing but I merely curious what would happen if you did a color swap, perhaps split the image and induce two different colors replacing the grey scale. Perhaps even a color gradient would very cool with this unique flow.

    Reply
  • Stephanie Mora
    Sep 21, 2016 12:24

    Amazing picture, looks so crisp. I love the contrast and how you can see each piece of smoke so clearly. Having two rings is really cool because you can see how much more compact the first one is compared to the second one.

    Reply
  • Hunter Miller
    Sep 21, 2016 12:23

    Good contrast. keeps the focus. I like how you can see the different layers inside of the rings. It is really twisting up which is really cool. The focus is very good. Interesting that the rings are on different axis.

    Reply
  • Sean Harrison
    Sep 21, 2016 12:23

    Stunning contrast between the smoke rings and the background. Image make me think of an arc reactor. Excellent focus and clarity in the image, well done.

    Reply
  • Ryan Daniel
    Sep 21, 2016 12:22

    -Great visualization of smoke vortexes, mexmorizing to look at
    -Great capture of laminar section of this phenomena, really awesome flow patterns
    -Fantastic photography set up, really like how crisp and dark the background is

    Reply
  • Michael Waterhouse
    Sep 21, 2016 12:22

    Great use of black and white. Really makes the smoke rings pop. Flow is in great detail. Cool to see all the different radial layers within the ring. Publishable quality. Cool to hear about how you created the image.

    Reply
  • David Leng
    Sep 21, 2016 12:22

    The detail in the rings is depicted very well with your use of focus, contrast, and shutter speed. The contrast between each ring is quite pleasing. The flow can be seen in this image clearly with the higher density near the core of the ring and thinning out as it gets further away.

    Reply
  • Mark Noel
    Sep 21, 2016 12:22

    1. Great image very clear
    2. I love the visualization of the “Swiss roll”
    3. Contrast is great

    Reply
  • Maxfield Scrimgeour
    Sep 21, 2016 12:22

    Very nice work. The focus on the smoke is superb. Very cool to see the layers of the rings and the layers associated with the motion as the trajectory continues. Very good contrast with use of the background and the lighting with the timing of the photo.

    Reply
  • Alexander Rosenberry
    Sep 21, 2016 12:22

    This is the coolest looking flow I’ve seen yet! The nearly perfect symmetry of the whole setup makes this spectacular. I also really enjoy the contrast. A lot of smoke photos show a lot of grey in the smoke, and this white is very satisfying. I especially like the stacked rings effect on the top and the bottom of each ring.

    Reply
  • Brett Sibel
    Sep 21, 2016 12:21

    Art: Love the black/white color scheme.
    Flow: The vortex rings in the laminar phase is beautiful.
    Photography: Great work on the rig.

    Reply
  • James Julian
    Sep 21, 2016 12:21

    Art: The color contrast between the fluid and the background is very well done.
    Flow: The flow is understandable and easily recognized.
    Photographic technique: The focus on the rings are really nice.

    Reply
  • Theo Petrides
    Sep 21, 2016 12:03

    – Great photo the focus is really clear on the smoke rings.
    – There are no distracting elements and there is evidence of two different things including the smoke ring and then the jellyfish afterwards.

    Reply
  • Michael Lloyd
    Sep 19, 2016 12:22

    Great focus and shutter speed to capture the smoke rings with crisp edges! I like how you can see some of the different layers of the ring against the dark background. Great framing with the left smoke coming from off screen, but one artistic measure is you often don’t want only two points of interest because they can compete for the viewers attention. Rule of thumb is 1 or 3 points of interest. Still a great photo!

    Reply
  • Schuyler Vandersluis
    Sep 19, 2016 12:21

    I really enjoy the amount of detail exposed in this image. You can clearly see the path of the fluid, and it very aesthetically pleasing. The contrast is great as well.

    Reply

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