I belong to an online photo community called Digital Photography Challenge. A recent challenge was to photograph 7 of any object as long as they are all the same. My wife Cheryl and I came up with the idea of photographing 7 flaming shot glasses. Sounded cool to me because I had never photographed fire before.
We set this shot up on gloss black plexiglass and used the same for a back drop. We then lined up the glasses and filled them with Bacardi 151 Rum. This was used because it is 75% alcohol and burns easily with a nice looking flame.
We shot this at night, in the garage, using a tripod, Sony Nex-7,Zeiss 24mm, f1.8 prime lens with a B&W +5 close up filter. It was shot in RAW format which allowed me to tone down any highlights nicely. I was going to bottom light the set up to equalize the light of the flames and the light on the bottom of the shot glasses but, as it turned out, it wasn’t necessary.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS (I do not recommend you do this but if you do it should not be attempted by anyone under the age of 18):
You can get very, very seriously burned if flaming alcohol splashes on you. Please take the following suggestions into consideration:
1). Have a large safe space that will allow you to contain the fire very quickly if an accident occurs.
2). I was about 6′ from the garage door and our still photography set up was on top of a very sturdy platform with wheels that would allow us to push it out the garage door if we had to very quickly.
3). Duct tape your base and backdrop to something secure just in case you bump it during the shoot. You don’t want those drinks to travel.
4). Use a solid tripod for your camera and if you’re close MAKE SURE you’ve tightened your camera up good to prevent it from dropping on the base of your still set up and causing the flaming glasses to travel.
5). I had no choice but to use a medium wide lens because I didn’t have a long lens for this particular camera. However I would suggest a longer lens, (preferably with a close up mode), that would allow you to get your tripod and camera a few feet away from your set up just in case you accidentally kick the tripod or knock it over.
6). Remove all flammables from the immediate area.
7). Have a fire extinguisher by your side in the event of problem.
8). Have something to snuff the fire out. We used a tilers trowel. This had a nice flat steel surface that was about 10″ x 4″ with a wooden handle. We were able to gently set it down on top of the shot glasses and the flame was snuffed out immediately. The operative word here is GENTLY. Again you do not want to knock these glasses over when they are on fire.
9). Lastly remove your unused bottle of Bacardi 151 (or whatever liquor you’re using) away from the location of the shoot.
I watched some pretty horrendous clips on YOU TUBE before I set this shot up to get some idea’s of what I was working with. It scared me straight. There were many people that splashed alcohol on their face, chest and body trying to work with shot glasses on fire. BE CAREFUL – AIR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION!
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