Fire Dancer

Kristen6877 · Jul 8, 2007

I took these a few weeks ago at a Luau on Oahu, Hawaii. It was at the Paradise Cove. Let me know what you would have done different or what you think I can do to make some of these better...
Mahalo, Kristen

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3)

Flash Harry · Jul 10, 2007

Difficult, I would have tried a longish exposure with the movement blur as he twirled the baton. Without much ambient light you've not much hope of improving fire shots though. H

The_Traveler · Jul 10, 2007

These are difficult because there is not much image there.
I would certainly crop them much tighter to remove a lot of the enveloping black. (see below).

As far as comments on how you took them. You shot them at too low an ISO, the WB is off, most of the color is red and they are underexposed. I would use an ISO of 400 - 800 and a much faster lens

Camera Model: NIKON D200
Image Date: 2007:06:23 08:40:32
Focal Length: 55.0mm (35mm equivalent: 82mm)
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO equiv: 1250
White Balance: Manual
Light Source: Fine Weather
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: program (Auto)

Digital Matt · Jul 10, 2007

There is no one "right" way to shoot a subject. I think the way in which you captured these gives them a sense of mystery and drama. They are a bit too small for me to see whether they are sharp or not, but I would definitely have used a tripod for this. I think they should either be sharp, or intentionally unsharp, if you get my meaning.

Kristen6877 · Jul 12, 2007

Thanks for the input. I wasn't able to use a tripod - I had to stand up in the crowd and shot and then try to get back out of the way before people got mad... It was also kinda hard to get the settings right because they lowered the lights for the fire dancers... and it was a little crowded.

sayambhu · Jul 12, 2007

great shots under difficult light conditions. I love the surrounding black being pitch dark : that's grammatically correct.

only regret is the face hidden by the arms in the second photograph. had there been just a slice of the side-face it would have made an excellent shot. loved all of them.