Baseball pic

RWilliamson

Hey Guys!! I have a question. I saw on espn where they were doing a baseball pic with a ball on fire. Does anyone know how that is done? It looked like they were using lighter fluid.

cecilc

RWilliamson wrote:

Hey Guys!! I have a question. I saw on espn where they were doing a baseball pic with a ball on fire. Does anyone know how that is done? It looked like they were using lighter fluid.

Was the entire ball on fire or just a part of it ? ! ? I've not done a shoot with an entire ball on fire, but I have done it with just a small section spouting a flame ...

They may have been using lighter fluid, but in my experience, it ain't the best way to go ...

I've had better success with rubber cement .... and it doesn't take a lot of it, either. Just a swab and a lighter and you're good to go .... The good thing is that the rubber cement will burn without burning the ball - as long as you don't leave the flame burning for more than 5-7 seconds ... and you should be able to get your shot in that time.

The caution exists that anytime you get flame and flesh close together - be careful! ....
1) Don't have anyone - or any part of anyone - right above the rubber cement when you light it - it flames up immediately. Make sure that fingers, arms, and heads are away from the ball ....
2) Have a wet towel or cloth close by - after you get your shot, quickly smother the flame with the wet towel or cloth.
3) Do all the preliminaries before you light it ... focusing, settings, ... whatever. Then when the rubber cement is lit, quickly get your shot.

I would also suggest the following:
1) Practice this before your shoot. Don't wait till you actually need a fire-on-ball shot to know how you're going to do it ....
2) Invariably, everyone will want to see it flame up ... so, unless you want your subject looking at the flame instead of the camera when you take your shot, I'd suggest lighting it up one time before your actual shot so that everyone can "oooh" and "ahhhhh" and get that done and over with. Then when you're ready to shoot, your subject can actually look at you.

And, at the risk of repeating myself - be careful! ! ! .....

RWilliamson

any particular kind of rubber cement?

cecilc

RWilliamson wrote:

any particular kind of rubber cement?

You mean there's MORE than one kind ? ! ? !

The rubber cement that I use comes in a little bottle with a brush attached to the twist-off cap ....

KMCC

cecilc wrote:

The rubber cement that I use comes in a little bottle with a brush attached to the twist-off cap ....

Cecil,

I had no idea you were into pyrotechnics too! This reminds me of my misspent college days when we'd occasionally play night tennis with balls that had been soaked in lighter fluid.

I probably should just stop right there.

cecilc

KMCC wrote:

Cecil, I had no idea you were into pyrotechnics too! This reminds me of my misspent college days when we'd occasionally play night tennis with balls that had been soaked in lighter fluid.

I probably should just stop right there.

Yea, that sounds like a story to be told over a cold beverage ....

But I gotta ask ... were the tennis balls soaked or were you guys soaked ? ? ..... I'm just askin' ..... !!