Shooting fire in the night
Capturing my friends wielding a dart, whip, staff, and poi
This past weekend I journeyed to Atlanta to shoot photos in a backyard while my friends found their flow spinning fire in their own unique ways.
Everyone had their own method of spinning fire (dart, whip, staff, poi) that created unique heat and light, but as I started capturing images it began to feel less as if I was finding the right exposure for the light and more honing on the best representation of each of their authentic character.
Let’s take a fun dive into each of these unique individuals, their flow states, and the resulting art that came about playing together while fire ripped into the dark Georgia night.
dart
First up is the woman who’s always first up, Merri.
This force of a woman is an inspiration to me. Every time we hang out together she ends up leaving an impact on the way I go about in the world. Just through having various conversations with her, I’ve been able to relate to how she identifies and plays with her own inner narrative before reacting to the world around her.
Where I was feeling more at ease with how I see the world, she challenges me to take that vantage point and actively walk through it.
Every time I’ve seen my friends spin fire she’s always the first one up. To me it feels like she opens a portal to adventure, walks through it, and encourages others to follow.
On this night she brought out her rope dart for the first time.
The dart is different than the tools I’ve seen Merri spin before. This instrument gives more moments of tensions, flow, and release.
Yes she’s opening similar circular portals to how she’s done in the past with poi or staff, but this time she’s letting the fiery rope dart circle around her throat before changing momentum to spin in the other direction.
For someone that inspires me with her authentic voice and effortlessly encourages my own, there couldn’t have been a better interaction to open up the space to let our friends shine.
whip
Now I've heard stories about this whip y’all, but I ain’t never imagined it would have looked this stunning being wielded by our friend Taylor.
I’ve never had an opportunity to see Taylor spin fire before. In the past I’ve heard her joke and say something along the lines of, “yeah, I wanna get into that, but I wanna do it with a bad ass whip tho.”
I never really imagined it in my head before, but after seeing her do it.
Yes.
This whip EMBODIES Taylor.
A long whip, soaked in fuel, cracking across the night sky.
The collective audience instinctively yells YAAAAAAAAASSSSSSS with each crack.
But it’s the upcoming image that does it for me.
To me this picture represents her true character. Where most people would wield a power like this solely for their own gain, Taylor continually finds a way to uplift those around her.
With great power comes great responsibility.
She does it with ease, in a way that makes each of her friends feel seen, heard, and appreciated.
Someone find this woman a radioactive spider STAT!
dragon staff
My man Denis.
It is absolutely tragic the few number of times we’ve actually gotten to spend time together, but also amazing in the way that each time we do we instantly recognize the realness in one another.
The thing with Denis is that everyone feels this way around him. Some are more fortunate to be able to spend more time with the dude, but they all walk away feeling as if this man knows them.
To that end, when I started shooting photos of Denis I started to get a bit frustrated that this disc golf goal was in the background. He was in the same position as our other friends, but his dragon staff was illuminating more of the scene around him.
But in my mind while I was shooting I could almost here his voice whispering, “come over here bruv.”
So I began to rotate around him and shoot him from another angle, facing the flash that I had set up.
I could have cried in that moment.
There where other blue string lights in the background behind him in that direction. It was as if he knew the types of photos I’ve been taking and effortlessly found a way to incorporate more of my photography style in with his movement.
After I physically moved his images looked less like spinning a dragon staff and more like emitting magic out of his bare hands.
That small interaction embodies every interaction I’ve ever had with Denis.
A man that shows up genuinely every single time, but somehow also manages to encourage that same genuineness out of you with ease.
poi
These last images come from someone I’ve seen spin poi multiple times, but that I have spent the least amount of time knowing.
When I started shooting images of Shaina I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It felt like I was beginning to capture some essence of her, but without more direct knowledge of her character I didn’t have the immediate feedback of if that was the story that Shaina would see in herself or how others see her.
Well that changed quickly.
As I started shooting photos my platonic soul teammate, Holly, was sitting next to me, and un prompted began telling me how she sees Shaina in the world.
Pointing out that we were watching the mother of dragons.
A woman with the strength to take on the challenges of the world around her, but also the character to make it play for those around her.
As Holly described the way she views her friend in more details, the images came more into alignment.
The top two images are the result of me shooting Shaina based on how my other friend Holly was describing her, but the bottom two are the results after I felt knowledgeable enough about her to come and play too.
The poi at the end of Shaina’s hands encouraged me to move my camera that I hadn’t done before. The song she was playing while she threw the fiery balls into the air had a bit of a fun and playful comedic beat to it.
So encouraged by her playfulness I let the camera bounce back and forth in my hands to the rhythm of the music.
It was in that playful moment that her dragon wings appeared on screen.
Now I could see what Holly was describing to me, the mother of dragons.
a look back
There’s a reason each of these individuals looked uniquely different on camera last Saturday night, and it wasn’t just due to the individual ways they were spinning fire.
satori stori
When I first set an intention of writing more of my creative process this year and focusing on the Satori of it all I never had an idea that my creative journey would be so closely tied to my friends around me.
I don’t know if I would have already gotten where I am creatively this year had it not been for the love, support, and playful encouragement of my friends.
If you want to support directly, I’ve included a link here where you can donate any amount to support more of my writing and creative projects in the future.