It was kind of difficult at first, but after a few minutes of practice, it was fun to see strange designs while using different color gels with the flash. On a dark room with a dark background, setup my camera on a tripod and lens on manual focus (about one feet). Shoot on "bulb" and waited for the smoke to get close. Then fired manually my old Vivitar 283 flash on 1/4 power (covering the flash with a different color gel every time), very close to the smoke coming from the incense stick. Set a small flashlight close to the incense burner in order to see the smoke in the darkness. The possibilities are endless.
Data: Canon 40D, f/11, 55 sec, ISO: 200, Lens: Canon EF 20-35@ 20mm, Full frame equivalent of: 32mm, Mode: Manual, Focus: manual, Filter: polarizer, Support: Dolica AX620B100 Tripod, Remote: yes, Process: Canon Digital Photo Professional, file: 120612EOS 40D509, Date: June 12, 2012.
My Light Painting Set 