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Forums > Social Discussion > What do you look for in a Poi photograph?

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jarofgreenmember
26 posts
Location: Reading, England


Posted:
So Photography is one of things i do, and I would lke to try some Poi Photography. I took a couple of photos at WOMAD which I will upload soon. But my question is: what do people think makes a good photograph?

Do they prefer it to be showing a good trick? Or that the fire trail should be in a intresting shape? Or do you just want to see people having fun? Intresting locations?

TinklePantsGOLD Member
Clique Infiltrator, Cunning Linguist and Master Debator
4,219 posts
Location: Edinburgh burgh burrrrrr, United Kingdom


Posted:
all of the above!

Always use "so's your face" and "only on Tuesdays" in as many conversations possible


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
I just like interesting photo's....not to messy with the trails and something a bit different always looks good. weavesmiley

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.


.:star:.SILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,785 posts
Location: Bristol, United Kingdom


Posted:
Take a look at Ry and Meenik's galleries, there are some amazing examples of fantastic poi photos!
You should be able to get a few ideas from there
I'm sure if you do a search there are lots of threads about poi photography

jarofgreenmember
26 posts
Location: Reading, England


Posted:
I'm curious about different perceptions; I've done a lot of theatre backstage and acting, so when I go and see a show I tend to notice and pay particular attention to details of the staging and so on. (It's quite annoying, it means you aren't concentrating on the actual show so much.)

I was just curious if people who did Poi noticed or looked for different things than those who didn't ...

(Will look at those two galleries later, thanks!)

LemonkeyStalking amidst the desert, carrying an oversized scalpel...
1,019 posts
Location: Huddersfield + Hull Uni... UK.


Posted:
I'm sick of fire photographs.

BUT, there's is one gallery I've browsed through which has the most amazing unnatural photographs I've ever seen - https://www.homeofpoi.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=818.

Brilliant. Some of those photographs rely on symmetry, others on the atmosphere caused by the room, and taken with long exposures.

Just experiment for yourself.

Willy - is bad for your health...


VixenSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,276 posts
Location: Oxfordshire/Wiltshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
I do quite a bit of photography... altho most of my pictures are portraiture... but in fire and performance photography i tend to find symmetry is something that draws me to an image. xxx

tHeReS gOoD aNd EvIl iN EaCh InDiViDuAl fIrE, iDeNtIfIeS nEeDs AnD fEeDs OuR dEsIrEs.


RyGOLD Member
Gromit's Humble Squire
4,496 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
Written by: .:star:.



Take a look at Ry and Meenik's galleries, there are some amazing examples of fantastic poi photos!

You should be able to get a few ideas from there

I'm sure if you do a search there are lots of threads about poi photography






Aww thank you miss star! hug2



As for a good poi photo, it'll help if either you have the poi (or whatever toys) doing something spectacular, or the spinner looking excellent. Of course, composition's important too, and that's up to your eye. If you think you've got no clue whatsoever when it comes to composition, go back to rule of thirds (but don't follow it too rigidly or your shots may come out predictable).



Another tip- if you're cropping, keep to a known aspect ratio, i.e. don't crop out a little odd shaped rectangle because that's where all the action is- if it's a crop, noone has to know but you.



Also, another priceless tip, shots that come straight out of the camera are never at their best. No matter how perfect you think the image is, do a quick histogram and maybe tweak the levels slightly and see whether it gives you a better picture. Slightly darker (or brighter) shadows and highlights can sometimes turn an ordinary shot into something spectacular.



Don't forget to share the pics too wink




AceOfHeartsnewbie
15 posts
Location: Newfoundland. Canada.


Posted:
I say, just take pictures when you see something you like. When your watching someone spin fire and you see something that you thought looked cool then snap a picture.
Thats what I always do .. sometimes I get really good pictures too.

https://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a14/beastwlf6/loki13.jpg

https://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a14/beastwlf6/loki8.jpg

And on the note of photography .. does anyone know why sometimes when you take these kind of pictures the fire spinner looks like a ghost ?

(By the way those two pictures are Loki from Ash Circle)

- Alyssa bounce

Nine feet of rope .. one ball of fire.


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
probably because they move and the shutter is open longer so you get background and person in the same part of the picture

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.


jarofgreenmember
26 posts
Location: Reading, England


Posted:
I liked those two gallerys, thanks. Some nice inspiration.

Playing with light, shadows and reflections is what I tend to do anyway with Photography, so hopefully I'll have some fun with Poi. I'll remember to try bracketing - thanks for the tips, Ry.

Will start a gallery here when I have some good picures....

(Waves to the Inverness person from the Orkney one)

linden rathenGOLD Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
6,942 posts
Location: London, UK


Posted:
id go with Lemonkey



Unless the shot is something spectacular and probably planned most fire shots look very samish, that said i do like them - just that that they need more than just the fire to make it spectacular



fire will often obscures all else so unless the move leaves awsome trails you need more light to illuminate the rest of the area (ie person and background) this also adds atmosphere and creates more interest in the pic



fire photos around dusk are good as you can make use of interesting sky colours etc (ive seen some awsome 'shots' at clapham meets with a fire spinner agasint a sunset on a hill; - didnt have acam with me though frown



another amazing option is LED poi as they will often look more spectacular (have a look at any pic of hyperlights to see what i mean) and tend to cast more light so you can see more of whats happening



also aim for is some sight of the spinner we want to see them too



this has to be one of my favorite fire pics - you can see the spinner, the area hes in and it is an awsome move smile
EDITED_BY: linden rathen (1124226745)

back


vanizeSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA


Posted:
I tend to look for poi in poi photo. :P

-v-

Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!


PyroMonkeyGOLD Member
b...bal...lence?....
370 posts
Location: Northern Beaches, Sydney, Australia


Posted:
You know after reading this thread and taking alook at Ry's and Meenik's galleries (4 thumbs up!!), im kinda ashamed at my crappy pics....

Although i am a very big fan of photography i just havent had to time to get into it. (plus i dont live around many spinners so its usually up to someone else to take the pic)

But a trick i do know, and i think that Ry uses (correct me if im wrong plz Ry) at the end of an exposure, hit the flash to get a clear single frame of the spinner and surrondings, that way theres no ghosts or blurry peeps.

Mind you i know close to nothing about photography so im probably wrong bout that....

Bender_the_OffenderGOLD Member
still can't believe it's not butter
6,978 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
i like shots of yummy twirlers
wink












oh yeah and the fire is nice too...

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always


RyGOLD Member
Gromit's Humble Squire
4,496 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
Written by: jarofgreen


I liked those two gallerys, thanks. Some nice inspiration.

Playing with light, shadows and reflections is what I tend to do anyway with Photography, so hopefully I'll have some fun with Poi. I'll remember to try bracketing - thanks for the tips, Ry.

Will start a gallery here when I have some good picures....

(Waves to the Inverness person from the Orkney one)




Happy to help. Though, this is one instance that bracketing's probably not going to help you, The length of the exposures and the fact that the subject's always moving probably means that your bracketed shots aren't going to look the same as each other. This is assuming you're on an SLR and it makes use of the motor drive.

To make that slightly easier to understand, if the original exposure was 2 seconds long, your two other exposure will also be 2 seconds long, meaning that your 3 shots will not only have 3 different exposure settings, but also be of 3 completely different things, which goes against what the bracketing was set out to achieve, i.e. 3 copies of practically the same shot, but with different exposure settings.

RyGOLD Member
Gromit's Humble Squire
4,496 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
Written by: PyroMonkey


You know after reading this thread and taking alook at Ry's and Meenik's galleries (4 thumbs up!!), im kinda ashamed at my crappy pics....

Although i am a very big fan of photography i just havent had to time to get into it. (plus i dont live around many spinners so its usually up to someone else to take the pic)

But a trick i do know, and i think that Ry uses (correct me if im wrong plz Ry) at the end of an exposure, hit the flash to get a clear single frame of the spinner and surrondings, that way theres no ghosts or blurry peeps.

Mind you i know close to nothing about photography so im probably wrong bout that....




Thanks, glad you like the pictures.

re: the flash, that's pretty much it. In an ideal external flash, you can set what is called 'rear-sync' or 'rear-curtain' flash. Basically it's a setting which tells the camera you want the flash at the end of the exposure, not when you click the shutter.

As a side note, the default on many cameras is to have the flash go off when you click the shutter, while it continues to expose the remainder of the exposure (known as slow-sync or first curtain sync, or front curtain sync).

What's the difference? Say you're taking a 2 second exposure of a moving car on a road at night. with rear sync, you'll get a picture of a car, with the lines of light behind it (the car was exposed at the end of the exposure). If you did the same with front sync or slow sync, you'd have a picture of the car, with the lines of light trailing in front of it (because the flash went off in the beginning).

Right. So some people are probably thinking- jeez he-made-me-read-all-that-to-tell-me-i-can't-take-a-decent-fire-poi-picture-with-my-el-cheapo-point-and-shoot-compact-digital..

Not true. I'm guessing that a lot of people would be interested in how to get a really spectacular shot with a really average camera. I'd say if your camera is capable of doing long exposures- well not like 10 minutes, but say 2 seconds to 4 seconds? You're on your way. You do however, need another flash, because unless your camera's one of those nice digital SLRs or a really good prosumer pseudo SLRs, it's unlikely to have onboard slow sync.

I'm guessing that you probably have an old point and shoot film camera lying around somewhere. You'll need that too. The goal? To get a nice light trail and a crisp exposure of the person who made the trail.

If you don't have a tripod, you can get someone else to be your flash assistant. First, set your camera to take a 4 second exposure MANUALLY with the flash turned OFF. You could also do it with a low ISO (sensitivity) if you don't really want those potted plants in the background. Or you might, I don't know.

Get your subject to twirl some fire, or glow, or even if it's to write his/her name in the air with a torchlight. If you want you can brief your subject to look at the camera around 3 seconds after you guys start taking the picture. Probably won't get an extremely spontaneous shot, but, if you tell them 'remember to look spontaneous' you'll probably get a very happy looking shot, or at least a shot good for a laugh.

Make sure you've got batteries in the old point and shoot, and that the flash is working. It's only for the flash, so make sure it's not got any film in there.

Alright, get the subject to wiggle a bit with the poi, or glow or whatever, and depress the shutter on your digital camera.

Just before the 4 seconds is up, click your film camera (in this instance, aka 'external flash').

Voila! biggrin

Tips though,
-don't go for too long an exposure unless you've got complete control of your light trails. A good shot might turn out like those in Meenik's gallery, an average one would see a big mess like tangled fishing line.
-do it somewhere dark. The length of the exposure would tend to mean everything extraneous would show up faintly. If that's the case, perhaps have the camera low on the ground facing up, so your only background is sky.
-dark clothes. As your poi move around you, your clothes reflect the light.. Not enough to get a solid image, but enough to look a bit messy.
-have fun. No matter how bad the picture, if the subject looks like he's having the time of his life, someone -will- say it's a great picture.
-histograms. Open up the image in a photo editor, I'd strongly recommend ACDSee- it's not as powerful as photoshop, but is intuitive, has a great browser, and isn't flooded with functions you won't need at this stage, and will do all you really want it to to make your recently taken poi picture look super. Adjust the levels on the histogram so that the darks look dark, and the highlights look nice and bright (not overblown though!).

Finally, please share the results biggrin

Hope that was useful!

SniperBRONZE Member
Snoochie-boochie-noochies!
663 posts
Location: United Kingdom


Posted:
boobs. simply because nobody else has said it yet. which knowing certain hoppers is actually surprising

PyroMonkeyGOLD Member
b...bal...lence?....
370 posts
Location: Northern Beaches, Sydney, Australia


Posted:
Nice random comment $niper..... umm

ANYWHO.....
Thanks heeeeeeeeaps and heaps for that Ry, sounds like you know exactly wat your talking about. wow Dont worry it made sense to me, i know a little on cameras so i got the jist of it.

Gonna stick to my original plan;
as soon as my exams are ova im gonna save some cash, get a top knotch digSLR, have a heap of fun, and post up to make my gallery somewhat decent,

and for your viewing pleasure of course....

Thanks again!! thankx

VixenSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,276 posts
Location: Oxfordshire/Wiltshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
https://www.homeofpoi.com/gallery/showpho...=500&page=1

Show this picture some love!!! xxx

tHeReS gOoD aNd EvIl iN EaCh InDiViDuAl fIrE, iDeNtIfIeS nEeDs AnD fEeDs OuR dEsIrEs.


AceOfHeartsnewbie
15 posts
Location: Newfoundland. Canada.


Posted:
Written by: Vixen


https://www.homeofpoi.com/gallery/showpho...=500&page=1

Show this picture some love!!! xxx




oh wow.
those look amazing !

- Alyssa bounce

Nine feet of rope .. one ball of fire.


jarofgreenmember
26 posts
Location: Reading, England


Posted:
Ooohh ... pretty picture

TinklePantsGOLD Member
Clique Infiltrator, Cunning Linguist and Master Debator
4,219 posts
Location: Edinburgh burgh burrrrrr, United Kingdom


Posted:
make sure you have enough space to spin in! tried photographing my beamers in my kitchen on a delay but I might as well have stood two feet away from the camera (even though I stood back as far as possible) they just didnt fit in the view finder!!!



i'll edit this later with a link to them!



and I agree with $niper - nakedness is very alluring ubblol



p.s. yoni's pics from his party have come out really well. (hehe just another traffic boost)

Always use "so's your face" and "only on Tuesdays" in as many conversations possible


IgirisujinSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,666 posts
Location: Preston, United Kingdom


Posted:
Nice fire photos! who was spinning fire there?

Chief adviser to the Pharaoh, in one very snazzy mutli-coloured coat

'Time goes by so slowly for those who wait...' - Whatever Happend To Baby Madonna?


newgabeSILVER Member
what goes around comes around. unless you're into stalls.
4,030 posts
Location: Bali, Australia


Posted:
I like to be able to see either the precision with whihc someone is spinning (cos i don't have any..) and / or the person who is spinning and their experience of it...

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....



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