This was fun!! I'm glad it was a pretty day, or I may have burned my house down.
To set it up, I fastened a baseball to a piece of wire with a thumbtack. Then, I put some flammable stain remover (couldn't find lighter fluid) on the baseball. My brother-in-law climbed up in a tree and tied it to a branch so that it was about 7 feet off of the ground. I put the camera on a tripod underneath the ball and shot.
The flames were tiny.
So, we put some cottony stuffing on the ball and soaked it with our flammable stuff. Put the ball on the wire, lit it and photographed it. Big flame. woohoo. Good thing the wind was blowing away from me or I would have been toast. 8-0
Post processing -- Cloned out the wire hanger, some of the cotton stuff that was showing (that is what is showing in the flame. Good pser's could fix it -- I just made a mess). Rotated, Cropped, saturated a bit, a touch of Neatimage, resized, added a border.
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Good idea, but wouldn't the flames be trailing an [upward] moving ball? Just turn the ball upside down before shooting and rotate the image 180 degrees to get the effect. A low-speed fan on the flames would really give the impression of a meteor.
If anything, I'd rotate it clockwise, so the flames trail horizontally. As someone pointed out, a common baseball term for a fastball is "heater."
Karma, you simply amaze me. I would NEVER have even have had the least inkling of doing something like this! What fun you had. Are your eyebrows still singed?
Good idea, but wouldn't the flames be trailing an [upward] moving ball? Just turn the ball upside down before shooting and rotate the image 180 degrees to get the effect. A low-speed fan on the flames would really give the impression of a meteor.
Novel idea, well executed. I think this photo really stands out in this challenge. I like the flames, but little details like the texture on the line between shadow and light really make it good. blue background is a nic contrast with the orange flames. 10
Interesting concept and perfect composition. Reminds me of a Randy Johnson fast ball! Just a little grain reduction and cloning out a couple of white spots and this image would be perfect.
Don't take this wrong, because I like this shot......I just think that you were too close to the ball for the effect you were after. The left side of the ball is over exposed from sunlight...? The flames aren't trailing. I hope I'm making some sense.
Now the good points: It's extreamly creative...the only one like it, and you really did the technical part well. I hope you do well in the challenge it was a good idea.
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