So I saw the challenge and thought of JulietNNfabulous work with the fire dancer
But I wanted to make it a bit different. Keeping some elements while changing others is a risk with the purists I know, but one that I take with eyes open. Especially, if it is one that gives me an opportunity to do something special for my youngest daughter. She's the one in Matryoshka , My Music Box , and Rainy Daisy Days . My children are growing up fast.
So the Fire Dancer made me think of the Avatar and the Legend of Korra. I asked my youngest if she wanted me to do her fire-bending & water-bending in her Korra costume. In the show Legend of Korra, the Avatar is tasked with bringing balance to the world he/she lives in. So what better yin/yang symbolism is there than fire and water? My daughter liked the idea very much and agreed to a photo shoot. She donned the costume I made for her last Halloween and posed with some karate moves she has learned.
The next step was the fire. I bought this grill stick with some mop like strings and some lantern oil. My idea was to soak the cloth strings in oil, light it on fire, and wave the stick in circular patterns while firing off the studio lights. Did I mention that I did this in the garage?
I did clear everything out of the way and we moved the cars out in the driveway. The family came out to watch with my youngest still pleading to do the fire trick. I told her absolutely not as it is too dangerous. I lit it on fire and began to spin it. The practical upshot is that I nearly missed getting any good shots because it burned too good. Some of the cloth string pieces on fire were melting burning and coming off of the stick.
On the white cloth that covers the soft box there is a small piece of melted string permanently attached to it now. Then the flames started to travel up the stick...time to make a beeline outside and drop it on the cement ground!!!!
I'm sure the neighbors think I'm crazy.
I felt that I might not have gotten enough. So, the next hour I spend coiling string, cloth, and paper coated with oil and set it on fire on a black ceramic tile in the garage. I got about 2 dozen more shots of flames. When I looked at the shots full size I ended up using the first 5 shots I got from the burning grill stick. All that work and I stank up the garage for 2 hours!
The water was another trial. I tried several different attempts from wine glasses to glass bowls to dropping water on a tile. Several hours later, I had a greater appreciation to those who take stunning pictures of water splashes.
But none of the shots had the right 'flow' of water. So, off to the garage with the black cloth, buckets of water, and camera. I used the high tech technique of throwing the water in the air with the hope to capture a splash with the studio lights:-) The floor was very, very wet by the time I was done and got several satisfactory shots to work with.
Once that was done it was time to review all the shots I took and pick out what I needed to put it all together.
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