The bride and groom at last night’s wedding are veteran burners – people who attend Burning Man – and several of their guests are fire performers. Later the evening during the reception, four of the guests showed their skill in juggling and dancing with fire.
Photographing fire performers
Photographing the fire performers, especially in such low light – i.e. near darkness – was a challenge. A slow shutter speed to show the movement of the fire, would cause the performer to be completely blurred. But a fast shutter speed would not show enough movement in the fire. A fast shutter speed would also necessitate a wide aperture, which causes depth of field problems as the performers move.
In the end, the low light forced me to use 1/60 @ f2.8 @ 3200 ISO for all but two of the fire performance photos shown here. I used the Nikon D3 and the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens. No flash, since flash would just change the very nature of what is on display.
To ensure that I get at least a few usable (and hopefully striking) images, I machine-gunned it. During the entire performance, I fired off nearly 500 frames, of which I deleted all but 140. From those, around 60 range from usable to good.
The light from the fire is relatively bright, and I had to use the localized correction brush in Photoshop to bring down some of the highlights on their faces. I brought up some of the Fill Light in processing the RAW files to bring up some shadow detail. I also brought up the Recovery setting to bring down some of the brighter areas.
Not only where there fire performers at this wedding, but Danny Kean and his traveling piano made a guest turn. If you check out his website, you’ll see mention of his dog Boner .. but Boner passed away, and the doggles here is Danny’s new companion.
And just in case anyone is curious about the couple with this most unusual wedding, here is Katie and Nathan during their portrait session earlier on in the afternoon.
Niel, a bit of motion blur actually works.. awesome pics.. hats off to you and hats off to D3’s stunning ISO performance..
:)
Thank you for sharing your photos and knowledge! I always enjoy reading (and am inspired by) your posts.
Hi Niel,
Let me say that your site and book has been so educational. I have you on my desktop! I currently own D70 and D200. I have the Nikon sb 800 and just got the Nikon sb 600. I shot some night time photos out on my first meet up and was so disappointed in my photos. I realized that I shot using 800 iso and the noise is unbelievable. What can I do besides upgrade my camera, to successfully get rid of the noise? I currently have PS CS 2 and LR #1. I am not in the market to purchase a lens, or another camera for that matter. I be willing to buy the best software if it works better than my Ps and LR(first one). Thanks for all your help. I am a compassionate photographer and want to improve my knowledge with using the Nikon flash off camera as well. Barb
Hi Neil,
Very nice shots. You mentioned that flash would have changed the nature of the display. If the camera in use didn’t have high-ISO capability, would bouncing the flash been an option?
Donald
Hi Neil,
You used flash in the photo of the couple during the afternoon session?
Thanks you again.
Alfredo
awesome, as always!
Recently I was hired to shoot a concert for a band and was also forced to go with 2.8 1/60 and 2000 ISO. My 5D Mark II was ok, but my 40D bit the dust. I was thankful to have the 5D and 70-200. But, now that I saw how poorly the 40D was, I want to rid of it. I know you are a Nikon Man, but any thoughts on the new 7D? It’s less expensive than the 5D and seems to host a whole lot of features?
I JUST took pictures of fire dancers at a friend’s party last week and they were all TERRIBLE compared to these! Bummer this blog entry wasn’t a week sooner (or the party a week later!!!). Thank you for the write up. I will know what to do next time :)
Amanda: The 7D doesn’t have a very spectacular sensor, according to all tests, see dxomark.com for some easy numbers.
But it’s the best crop for Canon, and it’s the only one with a decent AF system other than the 1D series. You’ll find it much faster than the 5D2, but the quality may not be as good. As such, it’ll be the perfect complement to your 5D2, probably more versatile than having 2 of the same cameras!
Fire and weddings. Damn where do you find these people?!?!?
wow….
Hi Neil!
Beautiful photos!
“To ensure that I get at least a few usable (and hopefully striking) images, I machine-gunned it. During the entire performance, I fired off nearly 500 frames, of which I deleted all but 140. From those, around 60 range from usable to good”
Again, thanks for your knowledge, experience and your absolutely unselfishness sharing all the information you got! Priceless! You have no idea how it make us “mortals” more confident in our Photography.
Thank you very much!
the machine-gunning it and getting 60 out of 500 pics makes the rest of us feel a little better and tells us that its ok to shoot away…once again a secret of yours will help the rest of us, thanks!
Hi Neil,
I’ve actually been surfing this blog for about 6 months and finally wanted to ask a question! First, I would like to thank you for sharing all your experience. I can’t believe how many posts you put out! I have trouble getting out 1 every two weeks on my wedding blog! Well, here is my question. Did you try a longer shutter speed and using rear curtain sync? If so were the performers too blurry? Just asking, because I’ve lately been shooting the bride/groom exit this way to good success (works great with sparklers too!) When I do this I usually use a ttl connecting cord and hold the flash in my left hand (gives a little sculpture if you can get it high enough!) I also like to back light the subject in some way at the same time (I use the cybersyncs, I’ve had 100% firing with these). Just curious what you think of this technique?
Thanks again, Chris
Neil,
I am a first time writer, long time lurker.
You mentioned flash would change the nature of the fire dancers. I have not found that to be the case at all. I use my flash to stop the motion of the dancer and still get a trail similar to what you have here. Some examples
http://spinero.smugmug.com/Other/Raleigh-Wide-Open/13159411_xVXmq#954697410_iPUCn
http://spinero.smugmug.com/Other/Raleigh-Wide-Open/13159411_xVXmq#954705714_BFJ4N
There is a similar technique used in the book Skin, but he is working in a studio where there is little to no ambient showing.
Clearly there are many ways to shoot these performers. Is there a reason you chose to balance the fire white instead of the orange and yellow tones that are ordinarily found in fire?
Anyway, thanks for all the great work.
Sam Pinero
Neil,
I think they look great. I was wondering if it was white balance or over-exposure. I think you ended up getting pretty good light patterns on the performers’ faces that way too. A flash would have not been easily controlled under those circumstances, and would have slowed you down too.
Thanks again,
Sam Pinero
These photos are incredible! I rarely see such clear faces in fire photography. I’m the male fire performer. Would you mind if I copied some of these and posted them elsewhere? Keeping your credit on the photo, of course.
Hello!
I was a bridesmaid at the wedding. (hot blonde)
LOL!!! We stole your camera and took a picture. ;)
You did a FABULOUS job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can’t wait to see the pictures!!!!!
xoxoxo
Tracy
You absolutely should!! ;)
Well thank you then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)
Neil, in all honesty, I find it AMAZING that you were able to capture the fire-spinners in action in your photos. Truly amazing how fabulous those pictures turned out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are an incredibly talented artist.
Hey, thanks for the Marilyn-esque photo. Love it!!!!!!!!!
xoxoxooxo
Good job with the fire performers. Lovely shots!