Clever Angel
Angels of Gothenburg is a term used for one of the local football teams, but plays also a major role in one of the hits by favourite local rock artist Håkan He...
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Angels of Gothenburg is a term used for one of the local football teams, but plays also a major role in one of the hits by favourite local rock artist Håkan Hellström. This photo was taken during a shoot with firedancer Anna Mattisson underneath the Älvsborgsbron, often considered the entry gate to the city of Gothenburg for those arriving by sea.
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Dec, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in Gothenburg, Sweden underneath the Älvsborgsbron. It features local fire dancer Vindla who is a member of the Eldfågel firedancing duo. The photo is part of my series Street Art in Motion, which features street performers around the world in a variety of settings. What I love most about it is the beauty of Vindla's movements, shaping her fire tracks like wings of an angel. Gothenburg has a special connection to angels, as their local soccer team IFK Göteborg has an angel as its mascot.Time
The photo was taken on the evening of April 24 2015 just after dusk around 8 PM as fog was rolling into the bay from the North Sea, giving the bridge in the background a beautiful and mystical qualityLighting
Gothenburg after dusk has what is referred to as the blue hour, which casts everything in a deep blue light. This combined with the lighting on the bridge made for a beautiful backdrop to the traces of the fire. I therefore decided to only use a simple speedlight aimed directly at the dancer to highlight her and not add any other light sources in the background. To capture the beautiful blue of the blue hour I used a long exposure.Equipment
I used a Nikon D800 with a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens mounted on a tripod with ISO 800 and f/5.6, I shot a long exposure keeping the shutter open for 0.4 seconds. To freeze the dancer's movements a little the photo uses very simple lighting from a portable speedlight, which fired on second curtain.Inspiration
For the past three years I've been working on a series called Street Art in Motion which combines street performers and street art on walls into what I like to call alternative postcards of cities around the world. I started the series in New York and have since added photos from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Gothenburg, Oslo, and other places. The inspiration to the series comes from a hula hoop dancer I met in New York during the Occupy movement. She used to stand in the middle of an intersection, directing traffic while spinning her hoop, drawing attention to a group of protesters standing nearby.Editing
I shot the photo in RAW and post processed it in Lightroom and Photoshop, correcting white balance and exposure, plus pushing the light temperature more towards the blue which I had seen while shooting the photo.In my camera bag
I usually carry a Sony AR7 II with a 24-200mm f/3.5-6.3 lens or a Nikon D800 with a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens in my bag. I prefer the Sony for its size, but the Nikon is faster and less grainy at low light. If I go out on a shoot I add speed lights and other lenses depending on what I need. For the Street Art in Motion series I usually keep my kit very light, since I'm shooting in the street in sometimes sketchy neighborhoods. So, one camera, one lens, one speedlight, and a tripod. Then I shoot in bulb mode with a remote.Feedback
Light trails are easy to shoot with a camera that is performing well in low light conditions. Since you're mostly doing this in public environments you can't carry too much equipment or you would be blocking others way. A good fullframe camera, a small tripod, a speed light and a remote controller should do. Keep the time short enough not to overcrowd your light trails but long enough so that a meaningful figure gets captured. Shoot your speed light on second curtain to capture the person in the photo as well as their movement. When shooting fire it's better to shoot underexposed by 1-2 steps and then adjust the exposure in post, in order not to blow out the fire structure.
