fire patterns

Gallery: LandscapePosted October 5, 2009100 views8 comments

I wasn't at all sure where to post this...flora and ESS seemed appropriate. Rather than posting a post-fire image I thought I'd post an on-fire image. This is a detail of palmetto burning during a fire in Florida scrub habitat. It might be construed as innapropriate for ESS because the fire was a prescribed burn, but fire is a natural process...so?

This isn't as sharp as I would have liked because it was handheld (for obvious reasons) and my feet were getting hot! But fire itself creates amazing patterns.

Nikon D200, 18-200mm @ 120mm
ISO400, 1/20 sec @ f/11

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on October 5, 2009 at 7:38 PM

Reed,
Congrats on this unique capture, and on getting away without burned feet. The fan of the palmetto is a familiar subject, but I have never seen the greens of the plant set against a backgound like this. The interplay and contrast of the greenery with the flames and burned substrate are fascinating.
Yes, fire is indeed a natural element, and an important one to many environments. (That's why burns are prescribed.)

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Eric Good on October 5, 2009 at 8:37 PM

I like the way the flames interlace with the palmetto leaves. A small crop off the top (eliminating the brighter fire and some of the dead leaves in the URC) also makes a nice image too. Interesting image!

Registered on March 17, 2007, 116 Posts, 4764 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on October 5, 2009 at 10:59 PM

You've got to be crazy to be shooting a burning brush fire! Anyways, those balls certainly got you a unique image!

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Stuart Williams on October 6, 2009 at 2:55 AM

interesting patterns reed - well done. there's so much motion in fire - obviously you're pushing it hand-holding this but a longer (tripod held) exposure would provide lots of interest too.

Registered on December 7, 2007, 247 Posts, 4792 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on October 6, 2009 at 8:14 AM

Interesting. Unique flame patterns and nice subject matter.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Cory Freeman on October 6, 2009 at 10:51 AM

crazy image! I love the splay of the palmetto across the canvas!

Registered on December 16, 2003, 107 Posts, 1341 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on October 6, 2009 at 1:02 PM

You've certainly caught the essence of heat with this one. Interesting image, Reed.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Ursula I Abresch on January 26, 2010 at 10:29 PM

It is quite interesting to look at. The fire seems to be moving through the plant. It must be moving quite fast to capture it like that in 1/20 sec. Quite a contrast between the juicy greens and the hot yellows/reds.

Registered on February 24, 2009, 19 Posts, 55 Comments