The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin (Les Aventures de Tintin) is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist Georges Remi (1907–1983), who wrote under the pen name of Hergé. The series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, with translations published in more than 50 languages and more  than 200 million copies of the books sold to date.

The series first appeared in French in Le Petit Vingtième, a children's supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le XXe Siècle on 10 January 1929. The success of the series saw the serialised strips published in Belgium's leading newspaper Le Soir, collected into a series of twenty-four albums, spun into a successful Tintin magazine, and adapted for film, radio, television and theatre.

Set during a largely realistic 20th century, the hero of the series is Tintin, a young Belgian reporter. He is aided in his adventures by his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy (Milou in French). Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash and cynical Captain Haddock, the highly intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol) and other supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond). Hergé himself features in several of the comics as a background character, as do his assistants in some instances.

The comic strip series has long been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in Hergé's signature ligne claire style.Its engaging, well-researched plots straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. The stories within the Tintin series always feature slapstick humour, offset in later albums by dashes of sophisticated satire and political/cultural commentary.

Smoke Photography Tips

When you look at smoke photos you might think that it is impossible to take such shots but it’s actually not that hard. You just need to be patient because the ratio of good images to bad ones is pretty low.

You will need a proper setup to photograph smoke. This form of photography is done indoors so it is a good way to kill time when you’re stuck inside. It doesn’t only kill time, it can be pretty fulfilling at the same time. Do not let the setup scare you away because you will only need cheap household products. The only expensive equipment is your camera and flash. In this tutorial we will try to make smoke photography simple for you.

There is no correct or incorrect way of photographing smoke. In other words, there is no right or wrong way to photograph a smoke trail. I, myself, try to experiment with my smoke. As I say in most of my articles, the best thing is to grab your camera and experiment. Experimenting will give you that perfect picture, that perfect angle and that perfect lighting.