How to capture flames?

[Andybazyoung]

Hello everyone,

Can anyone please tell me the best settings to capture a fireside image, paying particular attention to flame?

[Shadowman]

Hi Andy,

Will the image be taken in a dark setting or early evening and what in particular are you trying to capture? I know you said flame but are you trying to capture color, trying not to blow highlights, will there be anything of interest in the background? I would just expose for the lights and if there is anything else visible; just let the remainder fade into the shadows.

[Shadowman]

Here is a thread where I was experimenting with lowlight and fire.

Fire
.

[Andybazyoung]

Hi John,

I'm trying to get an image of a fireside setting with perhaps something small in the foreground but the subject being the fire. The lights will be low but not altogether dark.

Hi Andy,

Will the image be taken in a dark setting or early evening and what in particular are you trying to capture? I know you said flame but are you trying to capture color, trying not to blow highlights, will there be anything of interest in the background? I would just expose for the lights and if there is anything else visible; just let the remainder fade into the shadows.

[Shadowman]

Hi John,

I'm trying to get an image of a fireside setting with perhaps something small in the foreground but the subject being the fire. The lights will be low but not altogether dark.

Andy,

You can use almost any setting, if you shoot at a slow shutter speed and have a figure in the foreground; you'll want to instruct the person to remain very still. If you are doing a candid like I was, you'll either have to use a fast shutter speed to freeze motion (fire will be minimal) or use a slow shutter and risk some subject movement and get a fairly substantial capture of the flame. Chances are you'll need a high ISO setting with either method. A good way to do some quick testing would be to use a candle in a dark room, you can use any object as a foreground stand-in for your additional subject.

[Andybazyoung]

Thank you John I will post the images once I've taken them!

Andy,

You can use almost any setting, if you shoot at a slow shutter speed and have a figure in the foreground; you'll want to instruct the person to remain very still. If you are doing a candid like I was, you'll either have to use a fast shutter speed to freeze motion (fire will be minimal) or use a slow shutter and risk some subject movement and get a fairly substantial capture of the flame. Chances are you'll need a high ISO setting with either method. A good way to do some quick testing would be to use a candle in a dark room, you can use any object as a foreground stand-in for your additional subject.

[rpcrowe]

IMO, in chancy situations like this, AEB (auto exposure bracketing can be your best friend). Canon DSLR cameras, when AEB and burst mode is selected, will shoot three bracketed shots every time the shutter is tripped and then stop firing until the next time the shutter is tripped.

You can select the amount of bracketing you want and can combine AEB with exposure compensation. IMO, the bane of most low light or night photography can be over exposure of the bright areas (in this case the flames). I might seriously consider combining a 1 stop incremental AEB with a -1 stop exposure compensation.

This would give you three exposures: 2-stops under what the meter reads, 1-stop under what the meter reads and one shot as the meter reads.

I might shoot with a relatively high ISO to allow me a decent shutter speed. I'd rather have some noise in a relatively sharp image than a blurry but noise free image. Additionally, you can mitigate some if not most of the noise due to high ISO in post processing.

I would also turn on image stabilization (or whatever anti-shake compensation your camera/lens uses). The stabilization would not freeze subject movement but, could deliver a generally sharper image. A tripod or monopod (or even resting the camera/lens on a solid object) might help the sharpness of your image.

At times, combining flash with the light of the fire might also work. Many "campfire" images are shot with the aid of a strategically placed flash or flashes. Of course, this technique is in the world of "making" a picture rather than "taking" one. A really neat example of this would be using a bare bulb flash unit "behind" the flames tripping the flash with a RC control.. I have an old Sunpak 120J unit that has bare bulb capability. If you don't have bare bulb capability a flash pointed straight up, on the ground behind the flames modified with a Stofen type flash diffuser, and on a very low output might do the job...

BTW: If you are combining flash exposure with the ambient light, I would shoot the three bracketed exposures individually. The flash probably will not recycle fast enough to shoot in burst mode...

[george013]

If the situation is stationary for a time you can always choise an expo by experiments. Speed might become the problem. I once took some pictures of a fire-breather(right word?)


1/200, f11,iso250. The picture is cropped.


1/200,f14,iso250.

George