High temp photography techniques

[ThreeDJ16]

DJ, I agree with johnnyboy - DO IT!

Trying to gets some pics. Would love some tips from folks on how to take pics of flame? As soon as I get some pics, I will start the thread.

-=Jasen=-

[PaulR]

Trying to gets some pics. Would love some tips from folks on how to take pics of flame? As soon as I get some pics, I will start the thread.

-=Jasen=-

Ask Mr Bower!? he's the in-house photography expert?

I'd like to know too!

[jdbower]

This type of photography is called High Dynamic Range shooting, you want details in the flames but also details in the darker meat and sides of the cooker. An SLR is a better tool for this than a Point and Shoot, but someone proficient in Photoshop can get around just about any limitation. There are a few methods for doing this:

1. Use fixed lighting instead of a flash, if you can focus a bright light on just the meat it shouldn't wash out the flames as much. You may want to create what's known as a "snoot" - something you strap on a light source that focuses the light better. Here's a cheap and easy idea with black drinking straws.

2. If you can adjust the exposure, have a tripod, and access to a graphics editor you can use an HDR technique called blending where you first expose so you get the flames right (but everything else will be very dark) and then take a second shot without moving the camera where you expose for the meat. You can then use Photoshop to combine the two images. The simplest technique is to combine the two on top of each other and then adjust the transparency until you get the look you want, but you can also selectively edit the wasted parts of the images to reduce their look or take a few extra shots at different exposures. Some digital SLRs have a feature called "Bracketing" which will help this by automatically adjusting the exposure between shots.

3. There is also something called a center spot filter which will effectively put sunglasses over part of the image. It can be a little tough to figure out which filter will work best (especially with a non SLR where the sensor size isn't a standard). For more information about filters, take a look at page 35 here.

4. Of course, if you've got a decent Photoshop-like tool you can always try taking a picture between exposing for the meat and the flames then back down the exposure in post and increase the exposure of the meat. You'll be limited to the dynamic range of the camera, but it's not like you really need the flames to be crisp.

TNW would also be a good guy to talk to, he's done a lot more cooking shots than me, I'm sure. Hopefully soon I'll be able to do some experiments, but since I'm in the middle of a move I haven't had much time recently.

[TheNakedWhiz]

I already tried and apparently failed, LOL!! Jasen already asked me before posting here. My advice (although I probably said it differently) would be to try using a tripod so you can mess with shutter speed to get the light right and then try a bunch of shots at different settings.

Here's a shot taken by Trex over on the BGE forum:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/trexv3001.jpg

You might shout out to him and see if he has the EXIF data from the photo.

[PaulR]

That looks like a great shot TNW !!

I'll try the bracketing with my Nikon on the KK and will post (apologies DJ if they turn out cr@p!)