how do i shoot firedancers?

[big blue cheese]

as you can see from the image above, the dancers are not in focus but i really like how the movement of the fire resulted.


white balance set at incandescent
f/8 aperture and 1/2 sec exposure and iso 200


if i set the exposure, let's say, 1/200 and increase my iso, the fire might come out without movement at all.


i wanted something like the cover of Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries





i would really appreciate if you could share some pointers.


many thanks in advance 

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[estib]

as you can see from the image above, the dancers are not in focus but i really like how the movement of the fire resulted.


white balance set at incandescent
f/8 aperture and 1/2 sec exposure and iso 200


if i set the exposure, let's say, 1/200 and increase my iso, the fire might come out without movement at all.


i wanted something like the cover of Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries





i would really appreciate if you could share some pointers.


many thanks in advance 

Slow Shutter Speed + Flash (2nd Curtain/Rear Sync).

Slow shutter speed for the light trails and the flash to exposed the subject.

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[paul0415]

1/60 f/8 iso 200-400 then Ttl

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

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[big blue cheese]

@estib and @paul....many thanks for the tip texted it to my cellphone to use as future reference

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[Thor Lidasan]

You have two exposures to consider:

1) Flash exposure
2) Background exposure

I rely on TTL for the flash exposure and to freeze the movement of the dancer. Usually, its 1/60 to 1/200 for the flash and I compensate based on what I need to freeze the movement. Either I use the flash at the beginning or at the end of the background exposure (rear).

For background exposure, this is where the slow shutter speed comes in. Depending on what I need, I can go 1/5 handheld or if I use a long exposure shot, the cam is mounted on a tripod.

For the kind of firedancer images similar to McNally's, you need to get as close as possible to the firedancer. I usually see photogs capturing firedancers with long zooms in Boracay. For some of us, long zooms work but I prefer to get as close as possible to the subject using a prime lens.

Some of my firedancer shots:

This shot has manual exposure of 1/5, f8, iso 800 handheld with the 35mm 1.8 AFS:



Same settings on this one:



Same settings on this one, too:



My suggestion is anytime you are using a flash, always remember that you have the flash to freeze the movement and you have another exposure to show movement by using slower exposure time.

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[big blue cheese]

@Thor...your sample shots are pretty much what i wanted to achieve. thanks a lot for uploading them. really appreciate your input.


now gotta find me some fire dancers....any volunteers? 

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[ninjapeps]

go to High Street on Saturday, down at the newly finished area where Jamba Juice is. there's going to be a gathering of enthusiasts there from 4pm to 8pm. not sure if there's going to be fire but there's probably going to be LEDs at the least. and it won't be limited to poi (the fire things in the pics two posts up). there are going to be hoopers and possibly contact jugglers as well.

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[DennisP]

You have two exposures to consider:

1) Flash exposure
2) Background exposure

I rely on TTL for the flash exposure and to freeze the movement of the dancer. Usually, its 1/60 to 1/200 for the flash and I compensate based on what I need to freeze the movement. Either I use the flash at the beginning or at the end of the background exposure (rear).

For background exposure, this is where the slow shutter speed comes in. Depending on what I need, I can go 1/5 handheld or if I use a long exposure shot, the cam is mounted on a tripod.

For the kind of firedancer images similar to McNally's, you need to get as close as possible to the firedancer. I usually see photogs capturing firedancers with long zooms in Boracay. For some of us, long zooms work but I prefer to get as close as possible to the subject using a prime lens.

Some of my firedancer shots:

This shot has manual exposure of 1/5, f8, iso 800 handheld with the 35mm 1.8 AFS:



Same settings on this one:



Same settings on this one, too:



My suggestion is anytime you are using a flash, always remember that you have the flash to freeze the movement and you have another exposure to show movement by using slower exposure time.

Hey, Thor.  Your tips and suggestions never fail to enlighten me.  Keep it up.

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[paul0415]

remember to set it sa rear window yun flash

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[Slinky]

wow I tried this settings and it works. thanks for the tips guys

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[Thor Lidasan]

Hey, Thor.  Your tips and suggestions never fail to enlighten me.  Keep it up.

Thanks, Dennis!

Let me add that the settings that I use:

Flash sync speed between 1/60-1/200 with TTL (rear) + Manual Exposure 1/5-1/10 @ f8 iso 100-800 (depending on what I need) is my go to settings for party settings also (anything where I want to capture trails from light sources).

The other reason for my slow 1/5 - 1/10 speed is to get softer skin tones by letting the ambient lighting burn in on the skin tones via the slow shutter speed minimizing the hard lighting of the flash.

Hopefully these two examples will show what skin tones I am referring to. Not the sharpest examples as these are handheld at 1/5, but you got the concept:

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[retina]

Nabuhay si Thor  ...I have never shot a fire dancer before. I hope when I'll have the chance , I will remember those tips. Salamat po, Doc T.

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[romzL]

Doc those are really helpful tips! ill definitely use those when the opportunity comes thanks for sharing!

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[big blue cheese]

just a follow up question....what if the fire dancing was held during daytime?


would the same settings apply?

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[Thor Lidasan]

just a follow up question....what if the fire dancing was held during daytime?


would the same settings apply?

I've never done it but using the photography principles, here's what I think:

You will still need a slow shutter speed of 1/5 to 1/10 to capture the firetrails via the manual exposure setting and the flash sync speed to freeze the movement of the dancer.

Use an ND filter. The ND filter you will need will be the one that will give you a slow shutter speed of 1/5-1/10. Shoot the scene initially without the ND filter and note the aperture you use. No flash at this time because you are calculating the manual exposure you need. From the exposure values you got, figure out the stops you need to get down to 1/5-1/10 via a combination of ND filter and stopping down.

For example, if you initial value is 1/1000 without the filter, then you will need approximately 6 stops to get down to 1/10. Combine stopping down + ND filter to get the slow shutter speed.

TTL will take care of the flash exposure value as long as you set the proper sync speed.

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[jfrs]

great tips, thanks!


 

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[emokit]

nice tips to everyone.. good job boss!

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[big blue cheese]

@Thor...many thanks once again for your generous share of knowledge

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[tugpaktugpak]

Nice share guys, masubukan nga

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[vsupetran]

I agree...show shutter speed plus rear/2nd curtain sync. Maybe you can also adding a snoot on your strobe to limit the "freezing" to your subject.

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