Juggling

Posting here since not sure if the "people" or "performing arts" subforums would be better. Sorry if slightly OT.

I will probably have the opportunity of having a couple of great jugglers wanting to cooperate with me (TFP) to make nice pics of their juggling.

They have a wide array of equipment going from the slow moving contact balls, to the more traditional juggling balls or sticks/maces/pins etc. to the more "exotic" luminous balls or fire "pois".

I see the possibility of using both long and short exposures, of using the flash to freeze, to do 2nd curtain sync and strobo flash motion capture (have a single 580ex with a large 150cm reversible umbrella).

I also think I could shoot with both my 50mm or 70/200, in hand or tripod, or maybe also try the 10-22 to get larger fields and maybe intentionally distort the perspective.

I would be grateful if any of you could come up with ideas of things to try.

Thank you in advance
Bob

I spin poi (fire and non-fire kinds :P) and I'm pretty familiar with various juggling stuff...

For fire, research online before you shoot -
kindleonline.org
homeofpoi.com
should have some good examples. I know someone who shoots fire photography often and still is trying to perfect it - he has told me that the flash should be as bright as the flames. However, depending on the fuel they use, the fire may burn much brighter to start and gradually decrease. Some fuels are more consistent.

Definitely long shutter speeds and flash combined are the best way to get a sharp image of the person, and longer fire trails.

Have fun!

Gel the flash with a CTO (how much depends on the look) and mess with white balance so you get a nice warm tone.

k8et wrote in post #9981628
I spin poi (fire and non-fire kinds :P) and I'm pretty familiar with various juggling stuff...

For fire, research online before you shoot -
kindleonline.org
homeofpoi.com
should have some good examples. I know someone who shoots fire photography often and still is trying to perfect it - he has told me that the flash should be as bright as the flames. However, depending on the fuel they use, the fire may burn much brighter to start and gradually decrease. Some fuels are more consistent.

Definitely long shutter speeds and flash combined are the best way to get a sharp image of the person, and longer fire trails.

Have fun!

What do you mean by "as bright" ? Same luminosity (and how much will be that) or same colour temp ? Can you ask your friend if he has some ballpark shutter speeds, ISO sensitivity, aperture values and flash power values to use as a starting point ? Thank a lot.
Bob

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #9982011
Gel the flash with a CTO (how much depends on the look) and mess with white balance so you get a nice warm tone.

CTO stands for Colour Temp Orange You are suggesting this only in the case of fire juggling right ?

Thanks a bunch
Bob

I was referring to luminosity, not color temperature. I do not think you need any color gels on the flash, but then I've never tried it :P

Honestly the situation can be so different it's like saying what settings to use at the beach. The shutter speed will depend on how long you want the fire trails, which depends on how fast the performer is spinning. Aperture can vary greatly, is it dusk or completely dark out? The flash (he uses two on stands), he modifies it depending on what fuel the performer uses (white gas is bright but gets less so during the burn, even blue towards the end, lamp oil is not as bright but more consistent) and during the performance as flames get brighter or darker (due to speed of the performer or the fuel choice)

some of mine - without flash
http://www.flickr.com …in/set-72157607998324922/
http://www.flickr.com …in/set-72157607998324922/

this set - he was taking flash photos, i was taking non-flash ones, and often caught his flash. i had just bought my camera at that point - http://www.flickr.com …t/sets/72157604​467281135/ (The last batch of the girl in green - that's me, so those are photos he took- his credit is on any photos of his.)

I'll send him the link to here to see if he can pop in, I don't want to link to his gallery without asking. However, here's one of his pictures of me fire hooping on my flickr - http://www.flickr.com/​photos/k8et/3716732883​/

and hey! the photos of his that I have on my flickr have his exif info if you click more details :P Just discovered that! (not the hooping one, but the ones of me in the green top!)

k8et wrote in post #9988113
and hey! the photos of his that I have on my flickr have his exif info if you click more details :P Just discovered that! (not the hooping one, but the ones of me in the green top!)

Great pics and good infos to be gleaned from the EXIF so start with some sensible settings and work from there (and good juggling ! )

Thanks Bob