Love Is in the Air: How to Create a Heart Shaped Smoke Ring Photo for Valentine's Day

In honor of Valentine's day, here's how to create a still life image that makes you want to snuggle up next to the fireplace with a good book. We take a cup of hot chocolate and give it little a holiday twist.

In This Tutorial You Will Learn To:

1. Light a still-life photograph of a cup of hot chocolate, tea, or coffee
   
2. Colour correct, spot, and clean up the image
   
3. Use level adjustments to fine tune your look
   
4. Manipulate shapes: steam, smoke, clouds, and similar
   

Equipment List

You don't need a lot of fancy gear to do this tutorial. You will need:

• Camera with a macro lens (or macro capability)
  
• Tripod
• 3 lights, flashes preferred, as freezing rising steam requires a flash or a very fast shutter speed
• Diffusion material for flashes
  
• White paper as a reflector
  
• Card stock to block light strategically
• A kettle of water
• Cotton balls (microwaved)
• Tongs

Final Image