Fire!

Fellow staff photographers Tricia Spaulding and Kelly Lambert watch as we set fire to a softball in the studio.

So i've always wanted to do a sportrait involving fire. Always. So i practiced in the studio and went out into the field. To do this you need rubber cement, a lighter, a willing subject and very little wind. Rubber cement will burn on leather for about 10-15 seconds and then go away. At 100 ISO, Fire is around 500@f/8. (Bright sunlight at 100 ISO is 250@f/8)

So this is the most important thing to realize: Use a leather ball. Synthetics actually do catch fire. I know this, as i nearly set a softball pitcher on fire. Fortunetly, common sense ruled the day and she just dropped the ball in the dirt.

Other general advice.... bring an assistant to actually light the ball on fire.

The results ended up in black and white on page 4... which is unpleasant.