Photography

Fire dancers at Riverside’s 2015 Lunar Festival

Tupua Productions performer enthralls crowds with his fiery display.1/90 sec @ f2.8 ISO 1600 80-200 zoom set at 170mm
Tupua Productions performer enthralls crowds with his fiery display.1/90 sec @ f2.8 ISO 1600 80-200 zoom set at 170mm

Getting access  often accounts for at least 65% of your chances of making a good picture at an event.

The rest of it? Camera handling and picking out the backgrounds, right lenses, shooting with right shutter speed to make sure there is no camera shake.

This weekend when  I visited the annual Lunar Festival was just such an example.

Tupua Productions fire dancer plays with a torch between his legs.
Tupua Productions fire dancer plays with a torch between his legs.

I wanted to photograph the fire dancers who perform every year.

For safety, the crowd is kept back quite a way because of the use of fire by the dancers.

I got the attention of the May Lynn Davis who is in charge of the festival.

She allowed me inside the cordoned off area.

In situations where you can’t use flash  because

  • a) you’re too far from the subject
  • b) using flash will ruin the atmosphere

You need to know how high an ISO you can get away and still have decent image quality.

I’m was using my Canon 5D Mark 2 and my 80-200 f2.8 non IS zoom lens.

I have shot at higher ISO than 1600 but I was confident that I would be able to hand hold 1/90 sec without too much difficulty as long as I was seated.

Tupua Productions dancer lies on his back while balancing a fiery torch on both his feet.
Tupua Productions dancer lies on his back while balancing a fiery torch on both his feet.
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Peter Phun Photography

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