Creating steam in a shot

[Ricardo]

Hi all,

I'm planning on doing a shot of a person in a steamy environment. Or at least I want to shoot them with steam behind them. The space is fairly confined and I want to keep the steam mostly behind them and not between them and the lens.

My initial idea was to use a smoke machine but I think it would get everywhere very quickly especially as the space is small. Also, smoke doesn't particularly look like steam.

My other option would be to do this digitally maybe. The person will be backlit against a darkish background so I was thinking of maybe shooting them in the shot and then out of the shot with just a steamer of some sort and then dropping him back in.

So, my question is, is this the best way of achieving it and if not what would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

Ricardo.

[DJSoulglo]

Re: Creating steam in a shot

Shoot the steam against a black bg, so you can just drop it in the shot without it messing up anything.

[Ricardo]

Re: Creating steam in a shot

Thanks DJ. What process would you apply to the steam shot to make it appear against a transparent background?