Fire Power
Taken with Nikon D3000
ISO - 800, F-5.3
Exp time: 2.5 sec
Steel wool stuffed inside a whisk that is tied to a rope. The steel wool is then ...
Read more
Taken with Nikon D3000
ISO - 800, F-5.3
Exp time: 2.5 sec
Steel wool stuffed inside a whisk that is tied to a rope. The steel wool is then lit on fire and spun around behind the subject.
Read less
ISO - 800, F-5.3
Exp time: 2.5 sec
Steel wool stuffed inside a whisk that is tied to a rope. The steel wool is then lit on fire and spun around behind the subject.
Read less
Jul, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on the 2nd floor of an abandoned metal factory in Pozzuoli, Italy.Time
This photo was taken in May of 2013 at 9:46PM. We had been at the site since around 1PM just walking around, getting some daylight images as well as capturing some shots around the factory itself. We were waiting for it to get dark so we could play with some lighting and of course the fire you see in the image.Lighting
To create the fire seen in the photo, I used steel wool, spread it apart and stuffed in into a stainless steel egg beater and tied to the egg beater to a long rope so we could swing it around. My photographer friend, William, lit the steel wool on fire and started swinging the rope behind the subject creating the sparks you see. Then I had a speedlight on a stand, camera right, about 10ft from the subject that was set to rear-curtain flash, so it would fire at the end of the 5 second long exposure and we could capture the fire trails in the camera.Equipment
This was one of my very first professional portrait sessions, so I was still using an old Nikon D3000 with the kit 18-55 lens on it. The camera was sitting on a tripod and a 30ft chord was attached to the hot shoe on top of my camera that attached to the Nikon SB-700 flash on a stand camera right. Which is proof that the latest, greatest equipment is not needed to create a great image. It's knowing what to do with it. To create the fire trails, I used a long rope tied onto a stainless steel egg beater with steel wool stuffed inside of it and the wool was lit on fire and swung by the rope to create the patterns.Inspiration
We wanted a dark, mysterious, grungy feel to the session and the light trails of the fire in an old abandoned metal factory was the perfect combination to achieve that. Plus it was a great excuse to play with fire...for creative purposes of course. ;)Editing
I didn't do much post-processing to this photo. I decreased the exposure a little and increased the contrast to bring out the red in the fire trails, but it didn't need much more than that.In my camera bag
I have long upgraded my equipment since this session over 3 years ago. I still have my D3000, but I rarely use it. My primary digital camera is now a D7000 and I've since gotten into film photography, so I have a 1982 Nikon FM2 35mm film camera with a manual focus 50mm f/1.8 prime lens on it. I also have a 70-200mm f/3.5-5.6 manual focus zoom lens for it. Depending on what I'm doing will depend on what lenses I carry in my bag. If it's a portrait session, I always have my 35mm f/1.8 prime lens for my digital camera on my camera as well as two SB-700 Speedlights with the remote and triggers to fire them wirelessly and even color gels to add a pop of color if I choose as well as light stands and a tripod. . If I need a lens with more distance or I'm traveling and need a decent all-around lens that can be used close and far away, I always bring my 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. I also have a Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 wide angle lens if I'm taking portraits of large groups or landscape/architectural images. It's definitely in my bag while traveling to capture the expansive monuments and architecture. When I'm traveling I like to have my small, flexible Gorillapod to attach my camera to in order to get long-exposure shots. I can sit it on or twist it around just about anything. I never leave home without it.Feedback
My advice to anyone wanting to capture something like this is to first of all, if fire is involved, make sure it's done in an open or outside location where nothing can catch on fire and if photographing a person, make sure they are wearing long sleeves and a hat or head-covering in case some of the sparks land on them. Secondly, learn off-camera flash! Just a simple pop of light, even during the day, adds so much dimension to an image, then with more experience can come new, fancier techniques. It just takes a little practice and trial and error.
