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| Fuji X-E2, XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5, 1/105 |
How can you go wrong with a fire eating subject? Well if you miss the exposure maybe, but if you get a well exposed photo of something average and then something more dramatic you get the idea of why start with a more interesting subject.
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| Fuji X-E2, XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5, 1/140 |
Look for things like this Luau in Kona, Hawaii for example.
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 640, ƒ/4.5, 1/100 |
For this Fire Knife dance I photographed him at Truett's Luau in Fayetteville, GA. So, you don't always have to go to Hawaii to get your photo.
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 640, ƒ/5.3, 1/3200 |
Now later I photographed the same guy the following day, but this was outside in the sunlight. This should help you see how much a location and lighting can help a situation or not at all.
Personally I think to make your photos better, don't light everything. This is why when they turned off all the stage lights and let the fire dancer be center stage that the photo is more dramatic than in the bright sunlight.
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| Without flash. Photo by Clara Kwon |
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| With off camera flash. Photo by Clara Kwon |
In these two photos you can see how Clara Kwon had no flash and then by adding flash helped to make the subject "pop." She is not lighting everything and the rest of the scene is slightly darker which helps the subject stand out.
Remember to pick interesting subjects and try your best to put them in the best light.
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 200, ƒ/22, 1/13 with two Alienbees B1600 with CTO being triggered by Pocketwizards |
