Monday, November 23, 2009

We didn't start the fire

Dance
London, ON
October 2009
[Click photo to embiggen]
About this photo: It's all orange, all the time. Well, at least until this Wednesday, when I toss a new theme at ya. Suggestions welcome if you've got 'em. Orange-themed sharing welcome here otherwise. Captioning going on here, too.
First things first: I'm not a pyromaniac, an arsonist, or someone who is otherwise obsessed with fire. Still, as a photographer, it's a subject I've explored off and on (see here, here and here for previous examples) and it's one of the few subjects that eludes me insofar as bringing home The Ideal Photo.

But I keep trying, as evidenced by today's pic. Our son, Zach, inspired it, as we had all gone to a local restaurant to celebrate his birthday. As we waited for the server to arrive, he noticed the fireplace beside our table and we immediately began discussing whether it was wood, natural gas or electric. We concluded it was gas, because the thought of servers taking time out from running between guests and the kitchen to throw another log on the fire just didn't seem to fit.

It was a quiet night - Mondays are off-peak in the food services biz...who knew? - so before we headed home, we went over to the fireplace and took a bunch of pictures. It's the kind of thing where you don't compose as much as you meter, shoot a bunch, meter again, shoot a bunch, and repeat the process until you think you've got a reasonable chance of bringing one salvageable picture home. Even if the pictures were meh, the moment of curiosity and insight from a relentlessly growing almost-man was anything but.

Your turn: What does this picture remind you of? (To my high school English teacher, yes, I ended the sentence with a preposition. I know...I'm so busted.)

8 comments:

Mojo said...

That shoot-examine-repeat technique has served me well for as long as I can remember, and not just when it comes to photos of fire. Like the sky, you'll never get the same shot twice no matter how predictable the source might be.

What does it remind me of? Perhaps the hundreds of similar shots I've taken myself. It's always a compelling subject. And a personal favorite of mine. One I explored as part of this theme already a couple of days ago.

But not in these two offerings:
Thematic Photographic 76: "Orange" v.5.0 - Fast, Hot Delivery
Thematic Photographic 76: "Orange" v.6.0 - Living Color

kenju said...

It doesn't remind me of anything except fire - or maybe orange juice pouring out of a carton - but it is a very, very sensual photo.

Rinkly Rimes said...

I can definitely see a rather glamorous golden female in there!

MorahMommy said...

I agree with Rinkly. I see a female form as well.

invisible said...

Johnny, from the fantastic 4 had beans for dinner.
Flame on indeed.

Catherine said...

Thanks for asking me for theme suggestions. I'm coming up blank so far - you seem to have covered a wide range of themes already.
As for your high school English teacher, sorry he/she is wrong. Someone came up with that rule a century or so ago based on Latin, where you can't end a sentence with a preposition, but linguists are pretty much in agreement these days that English is not Latin and that ending a sentence with a preposition is just fine :)

Marion said...

It reminds me of molten gold.

Anonymous said...

I see liquid gold.
My youngest son (age 10) has joined me in the love of photography, and we have both shot a number of frames filled with glowing embers and licking flames.