Photographing FireChains
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Tips for the Photographer:
- Because of the roar of the fire, communication between the performer and the photographer is often not possible, so you'll need to decide in advance what the photographer is to do.
- Take photos early on, when the flames coming off the wicks are biggest.
- Frame the move before taking the shot - some moves go wide or high.
- Angles - try shots from the back and side, as well as from the front.
- In general avoid using a flash, especially at close range - it has the tendency to wash out the photo. Quite often, the light given off by the fire is enough to illuminate the subject.
- Shutter speeds - with or without a flash, we've found the best shutter speeds to be between 0.5 and 1.0 second. Any shorter and the photo doesn't capture the appearance of movement, whilst longer shots tend to become too blurred with all the circles of fire.
- Check your background - avoid light pollution from light sources in the background.
- We nearly always use something like a 36 shot 100ASA film for a couple of reasons:
- so the photographer can take plenty of shhots without worrying about wasting film and
- so we get strong colours on a deep black background. With low ASA number films such as 100, you can avoid the 'grainyness' which higher numbered ASA films can cause.
Tips for the Performer:
- Make sure you've got plenty of fuel.
- Stop, smother and re-fuel often, to keep your flames bright.
- Practice slower moves, so the camera has plenty of time to catch bright flames in slowish arcs.
- With more than one performer, light up individually so each performer has big, bright flames (unless you're after shots with more than one person performing).
- Oh, a lighter and a flashlight can be pretty handy, too.
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