I know what you’re saying. You’re saying, why in hell does he go to all this trouble to photograph fire like this:

When there’s so many images of fire already, whether photographs, illustrations, or cgi.

You can see the best of the images from this round on my portfolio website.

photo: pianoplayerontheroof

There are plenty of images of Poi performance, and most of them look like the above picture, which is great for showing the energy and movement of the discipline.

Naturally I wanted to show it differently.


I’m really only interested in the fire.

So, two improvements here at the loading dock: new Speedlites with radios in ‘em, and, looking like it got fished out of some espionage film, a Wave Sensor. The two improvements together allow these meteor-looking things, and take my ratio of usable to unusable shots from 1 in 12, to 1 in 1. Hear, hear, progress.

I’m never going to get this one white enough for me, because the strobes hadn’t fully recycled, but notice the row of curls coming off the bottom of the wick. Go ahead, look at it bigger. There’s a lot of wind dynamics happening in there, and I’m eager to try different wick shapes.

Another cool thing about these is the coexistence of smoke and fire.

And finally, dual, simultaneous fireballs.

You can see the best of the images from this round on my portfolio website.

So, it’s a quest to shape one of the more uncontrollable phenomena in nature. Yes, yes, CGI, illustration, I know. Dull. Not right.

This is much more exciting.

And a little malevolent.

I can make these shapes into anything that can be stenciled, basically.

To the CNC machine!

This one, however, needs some more work…it’s a white book. And it doesn’t look it.

Poor book.

You can see the best of the images from this round on my portfolio website.

Another flames experiment. Pretty nerve-wracking before we started. We weren’t quite sure what would happen, since this is the first time we’ve burned something this large.

Note macho fire extinguisher.

Sure, it looks like we’re in somebody’s backyard, but really, it’s the studio parking lot, I swear.

It took about four and a half minutes for this to burn. I’d thought that the column of flame would have reached about three times the height of the tree, but it was never much taller than the tree.

I’d have much preferred to shoot it inside, because even the slight breeze forced the flames off to the side, which precluded the shot I really wanted: everything lined up, fire straight from the tree, and a tall image. But, you know, mother nature and all that. That’s what testing’s for.

I like it this way. Next year I’ll get that other shot.

You can see the best of the images from this round on my portfolio website.

And I was all “I am very frustrated with rigging jewelry so it looks like it’s just sitting there like that.”

Handmade, one-of-a-kind Diamond Ring in 22kt yellow gold.

Three drop Fancy Cut Yellow Diamond Earrings in 18kt Yellow Gold.

LUCIR: Diamond Baguette Eternity Ring in Platinum.

PAULA: Handmade, one-of-a-kind Diamond Ring in 22kt yellow gold.

Kite Diamond Pendant with Diamond Halo, in Platinum with Diamond Bezels.

Three drop Fancy Cut Yellow Diamond Earrings in 18kt Yellow Gold.

19mm Baroque Pearl Earrings with Diamond Halo, in 18kt Rose Gold.

I shot another set of shopping bags for a really cool little agency, Wayfinder, for their client, Arden Fair Mall, recently. I took some time to play around with them, afterward.

Shopping bags serve well as a stand-in for the entire brand – they’re sort of viral ads, in and of themselves, but they lack any of the implications that an actual ad from the company would have. They’re mostly the logo, but they’re more physical than just the logo would be.

And I have a sort of tenuous relationship to the brands.

So, lately I’ve been frustrated with the complexity and duration of my tests, and having been inspired by several “picture a day” type efforts on Behance, I’m simplifying and trying new approaches.

These went in my book for the APA Portfolio Review this week, and they were really well-received.

I’m no Grand National Neat-nick, but I coulda been a contender. The boys have won though.

Tanzanite Ring in Platinum with Diamonds

Green Tourmaline Pendant in Platinum & 18K Gold with Yellow-Green Diamonds

Blue Sapphire & Diamond Cluster Earrings

Pink Sapphire & Yellow Sapphire with Diamonds Drop Earrings

Black Baroque Pearl Earring with Diamonds

And a couple exploratory ones, for me.