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Playing With Fire
If you’re really feeling adventurous, try adding some fire to your images but always be extremely careful. Aside from the risk of burning yourself you can also set fire to the surrounding area. Always work in an open area, free from flammable materials. It’s also a good idea to keep a bucket of water or hose close by in case you accidentally set fire to something. Dry grass, leaves, and wood ignite easily so always be mindful of your surroundings.
Fire trails and spirals are fun and easy to create. One way to do this is to tape a Zippo lighter to the end of an unwound metal coat hanger. Be sure to use the tape around the bottom half of the lighter to avoid it melting or burning. While holding the opposite end of the coat hanger, drag the lighter along the ground to create a flame trail. You can create a spiral by spinning it in a circle while pulling it upward.
To create this fire spiral, I set up the camera on a tripod and focused on the rock with the aid of my flashlight. I set the camera on timer mode so I would have time to get in position before the exposure began. I then stood on a step ladder that’s just out of frame and lit my Zippo lighter attached to a coat hanger, lowered it behind the rock, and waited for the timer to count down.
Once the exposure began, I started swirling the lighter around the rock while steadily raising it. Once I had raised it as far as I could, I snapped the lighter shut and that was it!
The shutter speed was 20 seconds at f/4 and ISO 100.
As with light painting, you can usually move throughout the scene without being exposed in the final image. Wearing dark, non-reflective clothing will help in this regard.
Wearing dark, non-reflective clothing will help keep you "invisible" as you move throughout the scene.
In this example, I was able to drag the lighter/hanger combination through the scene, looping it up and around the bush and then continuing out of frame. I walked at a medium pace – not too quick and not too slow. My main concern was making sure that I didn’t step in between the lighter and the camera which would have created a gap in the fire trail. The 51 second exposure gave me enough time to also do some light painting on the background with my flashlight. I used an aperture of f/5 at ISO 400.
Written by Andy Heatwole on October 17, 2009 under Playing with Fire.
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