Category: pictures

Well, I’m back into shooting fire dancers at the weekly Fire Jam at Kakaako Waterfront Park. It’s always a challenge and a bit of a rush to capture fire at its most elegant moments. The thrill of not knowing exactly what kind of photo you’ll get is very rare in the digital age. But that uncertainty exists when dancers spin fire. You see, from the instant when the camera shutter opens until the moment closes, if the fire passes in front of the dancer’s face I won’t have a shot. The fire obscures the dancers face to the point where the dancer is unrecognizable. In fact, if the fire passes in front of the spot where the dancer’s face will be, the shot is ruined. Taking a picture is now not only about anticipating what the dancer will do, but also guessing what path the fire will take. It’s the most technically difficult photography I’ve ever done, but worth the effort when it all comes together.

BTW, I even got a couple of my photos published in Honolulu Magazine.