Kacie Austin, Flames and Cellophone (Portrait (2019))

My model and I have a long history, as friends, as performers, and much more than that. For the past 18 months I have been shooting Thom's progression as a fire spinner and performer. From late night practice sessions to performances and everything in between. Eventually, being creative, artistic, and thoughtful in my shots became harder and harder - photography auto pilot if you will. It took me a long time to come up with the concept behind this shoot, longer still to perfect it without professional lighting kits or colour gels. These photos are the culmination of hand made light stands, spotlight cellophane by the bag, Bunnings LED lights, and SO MUCH PATIENCE. From being kicked out of shoot locations by security guards, to forgetting the tape to hold on the cellophane, we worked to get these shots and we worked hard. Thankfully, all the burns, sweat, and sears were worth it and finally I had the San-Junipero-meets-80's-street-performer-trying-to-light-your-cigarette shots of my dreams.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.