Dancing Flame
A photographic study of the smoke trails from the dancing flame of a oil lantern.
A photographic study of the smoke trails from the dancing flame of a oil lantern.
Smoke trails off a burning flame to create impressionistic drawings.
by Christopher Johnson
I was amazed when I saw this shot.
For the last couple months I have been completely engrossed with photographing water and its many qualities. Whether it be moving, still, reflecting, or refracting, I have taken notice and have been compiling a collection of these shots. So, here I am standing at the edge of a estuary in Hilo, surrounded by grass and trees. I begin to notice, as I watch my family playing on a paddle board, that the large pool is reflecting brilliant colors from the surroundings. In an instant I ran to grab my camera and I focused on one of these large lines from the trunk of the tall palm and shot away as the light danced around on the water. Well I didn’t think much of it until I got back to develop the shot and instantly was excited. This shot didn’t look like a photograph at all, but like a Jackson Pollock painting.
© Christopher Johnson – www.fromhereonin.com
Upon receiving the new ring flash, I had to test it out. Nearby was a bottle of water with some water drops collected on the inside wall that I focused on. Little did I know that the shot was going to be totally awesome.
Photography by Christopher Johnson – www.fromhereonin.com
Inspiration comes in some mysterious ways.
Just sitting on the couch, I noticed the vertical blinds waving in the breeze created by the ceiling fan. The designs they were making inspired me to photograph them, however, I had no idea that the resulting images would be so cool. Almost graphical and cartoon like.
I shot off 81 pictures… each one extremely different.