For those who do not live in the Portland, Oregon area, Sauvie Island lies within the Columbia River, in between Oregon and Washington states.  It is made up mostly of farmland and wildlife refuges, so it can be a peaceful place to visit, getting away from the rush rush of the city.  Along most of its shores are sandy beaches, much like along the ocean, but without the waves.  A group of us thought it would be a perfect place to do some fire spinning with hoops, poi, fans, and other toys.  Specifically interested was my friend Haven, who was hoping to spin some fire in the sand in preparations for a beach-side fire performance she was planning a couple weeks later for her sister and family.

Along for the shoot were more performers than we’ve ever gathered before.  In the past, I have done shoots with Haven, Kali, Zac, and Paul.  But some new people I shot for the first time were Harmony, Kristin, and Karri.  Every performer brought something unique and powerful to the session, it was a treat to get so much variety out of the finished photos.

For this shoot, I rented two very powerful strobes powered by a huge battery pack.  I have been wanting to experiment with lights more powerful than my 580ex II off-camera, so this was a perfect opportunity to do so.  One of my biggest complaints when it comes to my own fire spinning photos was that the light of the fire causes my exposures to become messy and blurry.  Fire hoops are just so incredibly bright, I figured I needed a much brighter light source to over-power it.  Unfortunately in this night’s case, that meant we wouldn’t be able to capture the incredibly textured sky we were blessed with.

My other goal for this shoot was to experiment with the contrast of fire and water in the same shoot.  Reflections of the fire on water I thought would make an incredible addition to the fire spinning imagery I’ve collected so far.  Fortunately, the weather cooperated (a challenge in an Oregon October), and the Columbia River was not nearly as cold as we all thought it would be.  It was the water itself that presented a challenge to the performers.  Well, not to the performers specifically, but to their toys.  If a fire hoop was dropped into the river while shooting, not only would the flame get doused out, but the wicks would absorb water and need to be dried out before soaking up fuel to be re-lit.  After the first time this happening, we were all fairly timid to risk causing too many toys to be out of commission.

I couldn’t be happier with the photos that came out of this shoot.  We faced a few challenges, and avoided any major accidents caused by a soaking wet dog feverishly looking for his friend Mr. Ball. Thanks to Haven, Harmony, Kali, Kristin, Paul, Zac, and Karri for putting on such incredible performances; thank you for sacrificing your body warmth for the sake of art; and thank you for being such great friends!

I have a full gallery ready for viewing, but here are a few more samples.  Until the next burn!