night photography - fire dancer

Photo taken at the Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2012 (full series).

There was (still is?) a group of fire dancers that came together once a month at the Palace of Fine Arts or Embarcadero in San Francisco. This shot is from the Palace of Fine Arts, a great location and tourist attraction, but the fire dance event took place in the darkness of the evening when the tourists were gone. There was music and the atmosphere was very relaxed. There must have been a dozen or more dancers who would in turn or together dip their torch(es) in fuel and dance until the fire burned out. The first time I came to this event it took me a little while to get the right camera settings but some fellow photographers were very helpful with recommendations. As mentioned, this was at night, there was some ambient light from the buildings but none of the photographers present used a flash; most light came from the fire torches and finding the right exposure time took some experimenting. But once I got my camera dialed in I was able to take a great series of shots.

I don't know if this is still going on, but if so it is worthwhile to go watch; with or without a camera.