Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide, and unlike regular ice it is extremely cold, with a temperature of -78.5 degrees Celsius (-109.3 degrees Fahrenheit).
When dry ice is in contact with air, it sublimates (changes directly from solid to gas) and produces a fog-like effect. The fog created by dry ice is often used for theatrical purposes, but you can also use it for photography!
Dry ice photography can be tricky because the fog dissipates quickly when it comes into contact with anything warm — even your hands! If you want to take photos of dry ice without getting your camera wet, here are some tips:
Table of Contents
Choose an interesting subject
If you’re using dry ice just for aesthetic purposes (and not actually trying to capture the fog), then choose an interesting subject that will make a good photograph. For example, if you’re going for a “spooky” look, try taking pictures of some haunted houses or graveyards at night.
Take photos of dry ice in the dark or with low light conditions to avoid overexposing them. You may have to use long exposure times if you have no other options available, but if possible, try using other lighting sources instead of flash bulbs or bright lights that will cause overexposure problems because they make the image look washed out, blurry and unnatural looking.
If you want to capture steam rising from the surface of frozen water that is covered with dry ice, try placing your camera on top of a chair and set it up so that the chair is at eye level with the ice-covered water below it (so as not to obstruct your view). Then let dry ice melt into water until it starts emitting.
Use natural lighting as much as possible.
If you have to use artificial lighting, make sure that the light is soft and diffused. If the light source is too harsh, it will affect the quality of your pictures.
Make sure that there are no bright lights shining onto the surface of your subject — this can make it impossible for your camera’s sensor to capture an accurate image of what’s going on in front of it.
You may also want to take multiple shots at different exposure times so that you can choose which one looks best when viewed later on a computer screen at full size.
Use a Tripod
A tripod will help you take long exposures without blurring your images because of shaky hands or camera movement. You can also use filters on your camera lens to increase sharpness and reduce noise in your photos. Sometimes you might want to use a fisheye lens for capturing panoramic views of events like fireworks shows or sporting events where you need multiple shots from different angles at once. A fisheye lens allows you to get more coverage from one spot by zooming out wider than normal so that everything fits into one frame instead of moving around constantly while trying to capture everything at once like with a normal wide angle lens.