Hands on Fire

[Bob Latham]

The Poitou-Charente region of Western France organises a series of musical events centred on the churches of even the smallest village. Almost every evening in July and August will find something featuring on the calendar and starting at 21h. The format is for a short concert....gospel, jazz, hip hop, choral or simply a gentle rendition of some of France's favourite singalong songs. Not wishing to let the masses disperse at the end, the music is generally followed by a visual art of some description......ballet, fireworks, acrobatics or, the subject of the following photo's, fire dancing.

Over the past few weeks, I've been out and about trying my luck at capturing the mood and spectacle of some of the performances. After chivalrously parking my better half in a good viewing position, I head off to see if I can negotiate a prime shooting spot using the offer of free copies of any worthwhile images (generally seems to get the desired result). The acts themselves vary from a sedate one girl ballets to infernos backed by thunderous sounds belching from immense bass woofers.

The new Eos 1Dx hanging behind an EF200/2 IS seem to be reasonable tools for the job and here are some of the results....all lighting limited to paraffin fed flames.
Bob

 

[Asher Kelman]

I have struggled to take picture with my 5DII at night on beach with revelers. It was almost impossible. even with the 50 1.2L, it was a challenge even to focus!

The new Eos 1Dx hanging behind an EF200/2 IS seem to be reasonable tools for the job

Bob,

Sort of a humorous understatement! I don't think anyone could fault your choice of gear. You have just about the best camera for low light and one of the finest photon grabbing long lenses. Together, this setup is formidable!

Asher

 

[Bob Latham]

Sort of a humorous understatement! I don't think anyone could fault your choice of gear. You have just about the best camera for low light and one of the finest photon grabbing long lenses. Together, this setup is formidable!

Asher

Asher,

The AF ability of the 1Dx is truly amazing. The tracking for sport is one thing but this beast seems to require almost no light and still nails it. The 200/2 is a newish arrival too (a used item that's a couple of years old) as I needed to increase the focal length from 135mm to mitigate losing the 1D4's crop factor. All in all, I'm quite taken with the acquisitions albeit a little poorer as a result.

Bob

 

[Asher Kelman]

Asher,

The AF ability of the 1Dx is truly amazing. The tracking for sport is one thing but this beast seems to require almost no light and still nails it. The 200/2 is a newish arrival too (a used item that's a couple of years old) as I needed to increase the focal length from 135mm to mitigate losing the 1D4's crop factor. All in all, I'm quite taken with the acquisitions albeit a little poorer as a result.

With the 5DII and the 50 1.2L, one would think that one would be able to compete! However it just can't' pull focus. I wonder whether the 5D Mark III could compete in these circumstances?

Do you use the 200 f2.0 for work or just for fun? Will Thompson swears by that lens and insists it replaces two other lenses, namely the 300 mm, by using the v. III X 1.4 and the 400mm f4.0 using the x2 adapter.

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

The Poitou-Charente region of Western France organises a series of musical events centred on the churches of even the smallest village. Almost every evening in July and August will find something featuring on the calendar and starting at 21h. The format is for a short concert....gospel, jazz, hip hop, choral or simply a gentle rendition of some of France's favourite singalong songs. Not wishing to let the masses disperse at the end, the music is generally followed by a visual art of some description......ballet, fireworks, acrobatics or, the subject of the following photo's, fire dancing.

Bob,

I'd love to have been there. The thrill of taking the pictures with your setup would be even greater than the actual event. Pulling such images out of the dark is indeed fantastic!

Over the past few weeks, I've been out and about trying my luck at capturing the mood and spectacle of some of the performances. After chivalrously parking my better half in a good viewing position, I head off to see if I can negotiate a prime shooting spot using the offer of free copies of any worthwhile images (generally seems to get the desired result). The acts themselves vary from a sedate one girl ballets to infernos backed by thunderous sounds belching from immense bass woofers.

I hope you've documented these too. how about a book from the pictures. If you'd also photograph the villages too that would be fantastic!

This fellow has an real showman's attitude!

Asher

 

[Jarmo Juntunen]

Bob, these pictures are simply amazing! I was especially impressed by the last one, the chap with the crooked beak.

 

[Bob Latham]

With the 5DII and the 50 1.2L, one would think that one would be able to compete! However it just can't' pull focus. I wonder whether the 5D Mark III could compete in these circumstances?

The 50/1.2 has been put on this earth to frustrate me Asher. My original copy worked just fine on my 1D4's but gave me a very low focus hit rate on my 1Ds3. In a fit pique, I prdered a new one and sold the first one (with a disclaimer sharing my thoughts). The new one performs exactly the same.....fine on the MkIV's and desperate on the Ds3. It only gets an outing in the sunshine from now on.

Do you use the 200 f2.0 for work or just for fun? Will Thompson swears by that lens and insists it replaces two other lenses, namely the 300 mm, by using the v. III X 1.4 and the 400mm f4.0 using the x2 adapter.
Asher

Not for work Asher....I'm a bumbling amateur.
I picked up the 200/2 for field sports (paired with the 300/2.8) but see it as an excellent portrait lens into the bargain. I had to sacrifice my 70-200/2.8MkII, 200/2.8MkII and a few other bits to ease the funding but I'm very happy with the outcome (although I know I'll miss the flexibility of 70-200 on occasions.

Bob

 

[Bob Latham]

Bob,
I'd love to have been there. The thrill of taking the pictures with your setup would be even greater than the actual event. Pulling such images out of the dark is indeed fantastic!

I hope you've documented these too. how about a book from the pictures. If you'd also photograph the villages too that would be fantastic!

This fellow has an real showman's attitude!

Asher

Next time you're in France, a trip to the west of Paris perhaps?

There are three galleries on my website from which these shots came...one for each of the acts.

http://www.boblatham-photography.net/les-mandalightssoudan

http://www.boblatham-photography.net/feu-non-bulle-saulg

http://www.boblatham-photography.net/larche-en-sel-st-georges

All the shots are taken with the 1Dx and the 200/2 or 135/2. Most are wide open and Iso from 1600 to 25600......25600 is my personal limit for shadow/dark intensive shots.

I'll get around to documenting some of the villages in the future ...they're magnificent in their humility (if that makes sense)

Bob, these pictures are simply amazing! I was especially impressed by the last one, the chap with the crooked beak.

The "Bird Man" is cropped and contains about 40% of the original frame (200mm 1/320 @ f/2 Iso 8000). There is another image in the last gallery that shows his "flaming feather" attachments.

I'll revisit the PP during the longer winter evenings and see if I can blacken the blacks a little to enhance the fiery part of the scene.

Thanks to both of you for your comments and interest.

Bob