Image Description
‘Pyroplasm 3x’ is one of the images that sprang from the first series of abstract images that I created within my camera. Sitting around a campfire with a group of fellow photographers, I mused over photographing the fire in front of me; looking to capture more of the content that lies within the fire rather than a purely pictorial representation, I opened my senses to the nature of the fire and its very essence. As a purely physical phenomenon, fire is the oxygenation of gaseous materials; upon deeper examination fire shows itself to have a life-force, to which many firefighters surely relate, as they stare down the flames and try to understand the next move of the fire in font of them.
Allowing my senses to open themselves up further to the campfire, I not only watch the playful dance of flames and feel the heat projecting from the various parts of the fire, but also listen intently to the sounds emanating from the fire and smell the oils in the wood and the smoke. Going deeper, bringing myself to meditate while focused on the intensity of the center of the flames, I begin to feel the strength of the universal processes at work and begin to connect with the creative forces that are an innate part of fire’s destructive power. Through this connection, I capture this image of creation juxtaposed by destruction, a universal dance of life and death.
I expect that each may have a different reaction to this image at various emotional levels, ranging from the visceral to the intellectual. Enlarge the image and allow time for the senses to connect with it; please share what you feel in this capture, as I enjoy your thoughts and feedback.
Technical Details
This image was captured at 100 ISO, F/9 at 8 second shutter speed. A gentle zoom twist was employed to get the some of the sense of flow. A steady hand ensured that the continuity of the gaseous flow was preserved in the image. The original image was cropped and rotated 90 degrees; color and contrast were enhanced in Photoshop, but no effects were added to alter the image from that captured in the camera.
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