One of the jobs I do for a living involves being out and about, walking the local area and so on. I always carry a camera of some description as you never know what opportunities will present themselves. Recently my “always carry camera” has been an iPhone, but in the past it was often a full DSLR and lenses. The iPhone has certainly lightened my load, but I was always uncertain about the quality of any images that a camera phone could produce. This picture of these frogs (or toads – honestly not sure which) was taken on my iPhone and the only “special photographic equipment” used was a fair bit of patience. Convincing this happy couple I was no threat took a little while.

It is not “perfectly sharp” and has had some “help” from in camera iPhone apps, but I hope that this picture shows what you can achieve with a simple phone camera, some luck and patience.

Some people think dogs should chase cats, but they obviously haven’t met
our Tom. In this pic he is awaiting the arrival of the nose of our
Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The smart money is on the cat!

Sometimes when we over self indulge in something we enjoy – I leave it up to you to fill in the blank(s), there can be a tendency to blame it on some external “evil” force.  In this case my new and shiny iPhone 4S is just such a force and it feels a whole lot better to blame my latest rash of snap happy shots on it, rather than on my own rediscovered joy of just taking the picture and not worrying about anything technical.

Of course it is true that a modern dslr will take a vastly superior picture in terms of technical statistics and could probably be easily used to make enlargements to cover billboards, but there is a certain charm to just taking the picture and having done with it.  The truly great thing about using an iPhone app to power your photography is that all the usual post processing is done right in the “camera”.

Circus of Horrors

Having recently completed a shoot for a touring theatre group after which I needed to sort and post process over 600 images the immediacy of a cameraphone is certainly appealing.  While I really enjoyed shooting Circus of Horrors, the resulting PP backlog was a problem.  Life right now is a bit busy all round and the ability to just “point and shoot” is a welcome change of pace.

Right now I am working my way through the various apps that are available for photography on the iPhone and I will of course let you know which ones are good and bad in a later post.  Right now I can say that instagram is an excellent little app that adds a few features to your camera, is a free download and file sharing site for your errr masterpieces all in one.  Another favourite right now is Camera+ which again adds a number of features that the iPhone does not natively do, but it is not free.  Camera+ is currently available for download at £1.49 ($2 in the U.S. I think).  It is well worth the money.

Really looking forward to going out and about to do some street photography over the next few weeks, but for now I guess you want to see a few recent images taken with the phone, so here we go.  Hope you like them.

Hamilton Square in the Frost

Added what the app calls “clarity” and some colour boost.  I like the wacky colours, don’t hurt me please!

Frost on a Spiders Web

And here is one for the Goths/Emo-philes out there.  Not often you see a spiders web as clearly as this.  The sunlight shining on the frost on the web made it look like a network of jewels.

Expect more iPhone pics over the coming weeks,  (I told you iPhones are evil!) but I promise to get back to serious photography soon.

While I do not claim to be a professional photographer, or indeed even a particularly talented amateur, I do usually “know” my camera. That is to say that after a period of familiarization with a new piece of kit, I can usually make it do what I want without having to think about it too much – the process has become subconscious. However, like most photographers I have areas that I know well and am comfortable with and areas that I have little experience of. Portrait photography with flash is one of those areas I know little of.

Push Your Boundaries and Grow as a Photographer

Operating outside our comfort zones is how we grow as photographers. The price we pay for this growth is paid for in mistakes. Ideally we make this payment in private and not while standing in front of a client. This is why we should always practice a technique until it has become automatic to us.

Well, even though I know that practice and familiarity is necessary, there are times when things still go wrong and I recently had one of those times. The reason familiarity with gear and settings is so important is that it enables you to set things up correctly under pressure (real or imagined).

Portrait Photography for Charity

I had been invited to take photographs and assist in setting up a new website for Lama Lhakpa Yeshe. He is a lovely, happy man and I want to do the best job I possibly can in photographing him as he is in daily life. A stiff, formal, portrait just would not be appropriate. As he is a Tibetan monk I thought that it was important to show him in context with how he lives his life. In this case the photograph was taken indoors in front of a domestic Buddhist shrine. I was acutely aware that I was in another persons home and setting up in a sacred space, as such I wanted to nail the exposure quickly and get out of the way as fast as possible. The pressure was entirely mine – lama would probably have allowed me to take all day and smiled at my worrying all the time.

Anyway, I set up and shot some test frames on manual. The initial frames looked OK in the LCD and so I asked lama to join me. Below is the resulting final shot.

In my hurry to set up I had forgotten to properly assess the background. A harsh shadow behind lama and also to the right is clearly visible. This is a typical beginners mistake with flash. The problem is not that the shadow is there, the problem is that the shadow is unintentional and distracting. Once I had viewed the image at home on a larger monitor I decided to ask lama if I could retake the picture.  Thankfully he obliged and a return visit was scheduled.

Ignore Pressure and Make Sure to Check Your Settings

The second time in the shrine room I was still setting up when lama walked in and asked if I was ready to go. Not wanting to cause delay I said “Yes” when the answer really was “No” and so committed another amateurs mistake. I fired off a test shot and “chimped” it (looked at the LCD screen). The test shot was perhaps three stops overexposed. How could that be? I was shooting the camera on manual, with manual flashes. The camera and flashes were on the same settings…. (so I thought)

At this point what I should have done was explain that I would need a minute or two and check my camera settings thoroughly, but I was aware that this was already my second attempt. Instead I winged it and reduced the flash power while rationalising that I must have misremembered the previous settings on the flashes.

What had actually happened was that the cameras auto-ISO setting was turned on. I had previously been shooting available light in woodland, where auto ISO is useful. Sadly on a Nikon D7000 when you select manual, auto-ISO remains operational and I was unaware of this fact. The reason I did not know this simply comes from a lack of experience. What I should have done is turn this setting off and select IS0 100 as in the first portrait shot.

As you can see the second shot shows no background shadow behind lama, but is showing pronounced noise as it was taken at ISO 1600. The difference between ISO 100 (normal setting for portraits with flash) and ISO 1600 is four stops. As I tend to expose about a stop under when on manual, this explains nicely why my test shot was three stops overexposed. If I had thoroughly checked my camera and set up this would not have happened. Similarly, if I had more experience of shooting portraiture with flash the mistake would have been obvious and easy to correct.

Of course none of this is critical. No one has died.  Some people might like these two shots.

Learn from Your Own Mistakes and Those of Others

So what next? Go with the first picture that I consider flawed as the background shadow is distracting?  Take the second picture with no shadow, but high noise as it was taken at ISO1600?  Or perhaps embarassingly have to ask for a third shoot in order to get it right?

One thing is certain whatever happens: I will not make this mistake again.

Most likely I will eat some serious humble pie, ask to shoot it a third time and make damn sure I get it right.  Failing a client, even a charitable one,  is just not an option.

My aim in setting up this site was to help others learn to take better photographs. It is for this reason I post this “howler” from a day in the field. It is my earnest wish that while perhaps giggling at my own mistakes you make fewer of your own, or at least have the courage to tell your client “Hang on please. I need a minute to check my camera settings!”

How to Prevent Condensation

Condensation Forms on Cold Surfaces

The simplest and perhaps the cheapest solution, is to place your equipment in a ziplock plastic bag (or any airtight plastic bag) before entering the warm environment.  The air surrounding the camera will insulate the camera and allow it to come up to room temperature slowly.

Allowing your camera to return to room temperature slowly is important.  Do not rush the process – so no hairdriers or similar!

Bringing the camera or lenses to ambient temperature slowly is important as rushing the change may result in damage to sensitive components due to different materials having different expansion coefficients.

It should take around 30 minutes for your camera to reach the same temperature as the heated environment.  Once thermal equilibrium is reached, you can take the equipment out of the bags and use it normally.

As the air in the bag initially is cold, the amount of water vapour it can hold is quite low.  The air in the bag is also of limited volume and so the amount of condensation that can form on your equipment is also restricted to a very small amount.  Resist the urge to open the bag all the time as this merely allows more warm, water bearing air into the bag and worsens any condensation problems.

Avoiding Condensation – Additional Methods

If your equipment has become wet while out in the cold, or you wish to take further steps to avoid condensation, here are some suggestions.

• Make sure your gear is thoroughly dry before placing it in the plastic bag.  Any water on the equipment will likely turn to vapour and then condense on cold areas of the equipment, rather than the surface of the bag.
• Use a desiccant gel.  When a camera or lens is delivered it is usually packaged with small white envelopes that have something that feels like rice or sand in them, usually a silica gel or similar.  This is a hygroscopic (water seeking) gel that removes water vapour from the surrounding air.  When the gel has absorbed all the water it can it usually changes colour to blue or pink – depends on the brand.  Adding a gel pack, or several, to the plastic bag while allowing the equipment to come up to temperature will ensure that any moisture in the air is transferred to the gel pack and not to any delicate electronic surfaces.

If you have kept the desiccant packs that arrived with your camera gear then you may be able to use them now.  Check that they have not discoloured, as this means they cannot absorb any more water.  The good news is that most of these gels can be “recharged” by gently warming them and encouraging them to dry out. A good way to do this is to place them in the sun, or near a radiator if the air is dry.

This brings us neatly to the next obstacle that people put in the way of taking more pictures – a lack of space.

Is This Compact Photo Studio Small Enough?

We currently own two four bedroom houses, but are effectively living in two rooms in one house.  The reason for this is that everything is being stored in the house we are living in, while the other house is being destroyed refurbished by builders.  This hopefully temporary, but presently very frustrating, situation is the back drop to writing this blog.  (Have pity.)  Space in our house is at an all time premium, yet we are having record storms and high winds in the UK at the moment and frankly outdoor photography is not very appealing.  Making a compact home studio seems like the sensible (and warmer) option.

We have an upstairs bedroom that is currently being used to store furniture.  In this room is a glass dining table and so it occurred to me that this might make an excellent photographic light table if it was press-ganged into service.  As it doesn’t take up much more space erected than folded down I thought doing so might not upset our domestic bliss.  (My girlfriend might be reading this…Shhh!)

The table is no more than 4 foot by 8 foot, perhaps less.  Many people have tables of a similar size to this and so if it works for me then it can work for you.

This is the setup that many of the previous tabletop pictures have been made with.  This picture was taken shortly after one of those sessions in fact. (Taken with on camera flash – don’t hurt me.  I just wanted a quick pic!)

Yes, I realise it looks like a bomb site, but us err messy artistic types work like this.

When we move into the new house and I have a room to dedicate into making a full size studio I will post that picture too.  It is looking unlikely that this will happen before New Year though.

Lighting is usually done by the Pringles can lights you can see in the picture.  More recently I have been branching out into wireless flash as the Yongnuo flash triggers recently arrived, but at present only one flash is here.

The red box on the table is where I store all my paper, reflectors and smaller backgrounds.  The plastic box underneath the table is where everything else you see in the picture stores down into.  That box also has a number of small photographic props and useful items in it like food dye, glue, clamps etc. as well as some larger backgrounds (A3 size).

The large reflector in the background is only used during bright days for available light photography and it thankfully folds down to about 15″ diameter.  It is an EX-Pro model that does 5 in 1 or something.  It is really handy as it has white, black, silver, gold and so on.  Amazon sells them for about £15 ($25).

Somewhat nearer to the camera (and mercifully out of shot) is the rest of the temporary storage for our household goods.

Now Go Make Some Room!

Surely anyone that is motivated enough can clear an area 4 foot or so square?

The great thing about tabletop photography is that it takes up so little space to do, but you can still learn lighting and other techniques that directly transfer to larger projects.  While this compact home “studio” might not win any prizes for design it does enable me to keep taking pictures when I otherwise would not.  Surely taking pictures is why we all got into photography in the first place, right?

Some days ago I ordered two sets of Yongnuo 603N Wireless flash triggers off Ebay. The “N” in the model number stands for “Nikon”.  They also make another variety, the 603C, which is – you guessed it – compatible with Canon cameras.  At the time of writing this article there are unfortunately no units in this range compatible with any other camera manufacturer.

The triggers come packed two to a box in a very compact style.  Certainly no extraneous packaging here.

I bought four triggers as I am planning to use them with a maximum of three lights plus one more trigger for the camera.  As they are transceivers rather than transmitters this means that if any one unit should fail I can use the remaining three with two lights while a replacement is found.  The fact that they are interchangeable with each other may or may not be relevant as some people have called into question the build quality, design and reliability of these units.  We will see.

Many people look down on these triggers as being somehow substandard as they do not have the logo of a top brand camera manufacturer on them.  They are often derogatorily called “Ebay triggers” or worse, “flea bay triggers” and “poverty triggers”.  Of course these people conveniently forget that much of todays top brand camera gear is made in exactly the same factories in China, but I digress.  I am well aware of the design problems inherent in them if you use large flashes, such as an SB900, but thought that I would give them a go and see for myself how they fared.

A set of four Yongnuo radio triggers cost roughly £45 (about $70) including postage.  At this price, I can afford to take a risk and see how well they operate.  When a Pocketwizard costs over £160 per unit and I would need four, possibly with the addition of a zone controller (£50 or so)  it should be easy to see why cheaper options were sought out.

So why did I buy them, apart from the low price?

Well, they form part of my still to be completed home studio lighting project, but also I will be called on to do some portrait work in a few weeks and one off camera flash really doesn’t cut it for what I want to do.  Anyway, getting used to manual off camera flash will be a growing experience and far better to do it now, rather than when standing in front of a client.  The Nikon CLS system is great and I will miss it, but as IR cannot travel through car bodies it won’t be much use for another project early in the New Year either.  Time to learn some new stuff.

Whatever happens with these triggers I will of course report back in a few weeks and give an honest review of them.  All that I need now is for my Yongnuo 460II flashes to arrive…

True, this project cannot hope to replace pro flash heads like the Bowens, but even comparatively weak continuous lights are better than no lights at all.

Pringles Cans – The Photographers Friend

Can you make a snoot, or other small studio light for less than £4 ($6)?

Here is what you need (along with some DIY or craft tools and a dose of common sense):

• 1 Pringles Can
• 1 Compact fluorescent bulb (Spiral are probably best, but any cheap CFL bulb will do)
• 1 Plug (3A fuse in UK)
• 1 Lamp Holder (from a pendant fitting, but you can buy them cheaper on their own)
• Some lighting flex

Total cost should be less than £4.

If you shop wisely you can probably get these items cheaper than I did. (Pringles from Tesco: £1. Electrics from Screwfix: CFL Bulb £1.48, Plug 76p, Lamp Holder 41p.  Total cost: £3.65 plus a 3A fuse and price of some flex that was lying around the house).  The best bit is that you get to eat the Pringles!

The next part of the process will require some electrical knowledge.  It is not difficult, but for legal reasons I need to point out that in many jurisdictions electrical work by unqualified amateurs is illegal.  Work within the law in your locality.  Literally, if you can wire a plug you can do this project.

Assuming that you have the knowledge to do so, or qualified supervision, wire the plug to the lamp holder using a length of lighting flex.  Around 5m (15 feet) works well, but measure according to your situation.  Too short a flex and the light will be very limited in its uses, too long and the flex itself will become a storage problem and trip hazard.

You now should have something that looks like this.

Empty and clean the interior of the Pringles can.  Do not use water to do this.  Despite the fact that the interior of the can looks metallic it is made from cardboard.  Wipe the can out with a disposable paper towel.

Once it is empty you now have a can with a reflective interior good for making light reflectors and a plastic top.  There are now two options for your can and prospective light.

1.  Create a barndoor type light by cutting the sides of the tube.
2.  Create a snoot by cutting the metal base off the tin and retaining the lid for possible later use as a light modifier (cookie).

Cutting the Barn Doors

Mark a line down the axis of the can (top to bottom) approximately 6” (15cm) long, making it roughly equidistant from the ends.  Extend the top and bottom of this line equally to either side approximately halfway around the can.  When viewed from the front this should look like a serif letter “I”.  Cut down the middle of this first line with a sharp pair of scissors or craft knife.  Once this cut is complete cut along the top and bottom marks also.  What you should have is an effect like a pair of barn doors.  These doors can then be carefully folded outwards to enhance your reflector, or partially closed to control the light according to your needs and desires.

Here is a photo of a can marked out for cutting.

Making a Snoot

If you plan on using your can as a snoot then cutting the barn doors is unnecessary.  Instead simply cut off the metal base of the can so that you have a hollow cardboard tube instead.

Cutting the Plastic Lid

Take the (unplugged) lamp holder and remove the skirt that holds a shade in place.  Draw around the outside edge of the bayonet (or Edison screw) fitting onto the centre of the plastic lid with a marker pen.  This should give you a circle about 1”(2.5cm) in diameter in the middle of the lid.  Cut this circle out with a pair of scissors or sharp knife.  Adjust the size of the hole to fit the lamp holder and re-affix the lamp holder skirt to secure the lid in place.  Fit the CFL into the lampholder – job done.

With barn doors your Pringles Can Lights should look like one of these.

Or you should end up with something like this if you are making a Pringles Can Snoot.

My apologies for these images.  I am still very busy with other stuff, but want to get this site moving.  Something had to give and it was unfortunately the quality of these images.

Some Common Sense Advice

This article on making and using Pringles cans to make Cheap DIY photography lights is intended for informational purposes only.  How you choose to use this information is ultimately your own decision.

Compact fluorescent bulbs operate at quite low temperatures and as such the risk of them setting fire to the cardboard tube is remote.  I have certainly never had a problem with overheating – the bulbs I use are comfortable to hold in my hand while switched on.

Having said that, never leave the lights unattended and switched on.

This website goes out to an international audience.  Lighting in different countries may operate to different standards than those in the UK.  It is up to the individual to check and make sure they are not incurring any risk of fire.

Uses for Pringles Can Lights

The barn door type lights will stand on their metal bases and can be used effectively as continuous side lighting for small projects, table top lighting etc.  Be careful not to knock them over though as they are quite top heavy.  Alternatively they can also be used lying down flat to light backgrounds to small projects or even underneath a piece of Perspex or plate glass to form part of a lighting table.

The Pringles can snoot can be modified for many different uses.  The basic metallic grey interior of the can gives a quite diffuse edge to the light which may be too soft for many uses.  Folding a single sheet of white photocopier paper or similar around the inside gives the snoot a slightly tighter edge to the light as well as altering the temperature.  If a really tight beam of light is required, fold a piece of black paper around the inside of the can as this will reduce internal reflections.

Colour Balance

One really great thing about the bulbs from Screwfix is that they display their colour temperature information.  Not all bulbs show this information.  Having the rated colour temperature listed makes setting the white balance in a digital camera a snap.  Dial in 2700K – job done.

Incidentally, the colour balance of fluorescent tubes changes at various points in the power cycle.  This change is most obvious at higher shutter speeds.  While I haven’t observed this with these CFL’s it is sometimes very obvious in rooms lit by large ceiling fittings.  If you keep your shutter speed slow enough so that the exposure records at least one full power cycle then colour balance should be consistent.  In the UK this means a speed below 1/50th second – 1/30th is even better.

I love my cheap DIY studio lights and so does my bank manager.  I hope you will like yours too.  A four light kit for less than £16, what’s not to like?  These lights work great for small items and desktop photography.  While they will never replace a truly professional setup they make a great, inexpensive solution until that kit arrives.

In times past, people of common interest would group together and as their numbers grew, hire a venue and form some type of association.  Depending on the individuals concerned this might be a formal group with a strict agenda, or perhaps a looser coalition of interested persons.  The idea being that their bonding together allowed for a greater exchange of ideas, mutual help and support, but also an opportunity for social interaction, networking and the telling of tall tales.  How much of this process has really changed and is this process even required anymore in a modern, computer literate, society?

We are Social Creatures

Photography is by its very nature an isolating pastime.  You are placing an object (the camera) between yourself and the events you record.  Think about the snaps you see of parties and other social events.  Normally the one person missing from all those pictures is the photographer themselves.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

To see the effects of social isolation on photographers we only have to look at the activities of some of the paparazzi in the UK and beyond.  Only a person with an atrophied human conscience could pursue others to this degree in order to make a living.

Similarly, the internet while on the one hand connecting people, also reduces the opportunity for meaningful human interaction.  Text is easily misunderstood, even amongst native speakers of a language.  Although voice chat (VOIP) and webcams seem to offer a fuller opportunity for connection, they still reduce opportunity for the understanding of body language and the like.  For these reasons online communication mediums offer a poor substitute for real life interaction.

Why is human interaction important to photographers?

Well, unless you plan on only viewing your pictures yourself, or perhaps with a very small circle of friends, you are making pictures for public consumption.  This is certainly the case if you intend to enter commercial photography in any meaningful sense.  (And let’s face it, earning money from photography lets us buy even more amazing gadgets!)

The commercial photographic world is bigger than iStockphoto and the other stock image agencies, so at some point you will have to deal with people in person.  A better understanding of human appreciation of photographic images will definitely help any photographer be more financially successful.  Well developed social skills will certainly improve and portrait work you do.

Even if financial gain is not your goal, experiencing firsthand the genuine reactions of others to your work is important.  When you pressed the shutter button, you must have thought the image was worth taking, but do others think the same?  If they do not agree, why don’t they?  Do the reactions of experts differ from the reactions of non-experts?

Peer review and feedback is important in many activities within the arts, scientific and business worlds.  An honest, informed, review process helps us to improve technique, composition and subject choice.  Sadly, many internet forums do not provide much in the way of constructive criticism.  Many people choose to hide behind the anonymity that the internet engenders to attack the work of others in harsh and non-constructive ways.  (OMG! That image SUX! – is not very helpful.) A good local photography club by contrast, offers the chance for constructive criticism in a friendly environment.

It is perhaps this last point that is most important – being in a friendly environment.  The ability to take risks and fail without fear is what stimulates creativity.  We learn more from failure than from success.  Harsh criticism does not engender a risk taking, creative outlook.

Suffering for Your Art is Not Compulsory!

Everyone has days in their photographic careers when things go wrong.  On those days, would you honestly wish to post on a forum about your “disaster” in order to have it immortalised on a server thousands of miles away?  I wouldn’t, at least I wouldn’t if it was not for this site.  Far better to vent to a friend, then forget the event ever happened and go back to the telling of tall tales and the “one that got away.”  Heartfelt encouragement from a friend will renew the spirit far faster than any internet chat room.

While the internet does serve a useful purpose in providing information and interaction, the local photography club is far from redundant because it offers so much more.  As photographers, our activity always involves the human element, even if a human being never enters the frame.  Our pictures are created for humans to enjoy and so their opinions matter intensely whether we choose to admit it or not.

Apart from our local photography clubs where else can we go to get honest opinions, along with hints and advice from a possibly expert and perhaps interested, audience?

Legal Disclaimer:  Dave Felton is a happy member of Wallasey Amateur Photographic Society.  No photographers were injured in the writing of this article.

The question then, from a photographers perspective, becomes “How can I capture a static image of a living flame and keep the mood alive?“  Or perhaps more simply “How can I take good pictures of flames and fire?”

I thought that this would be a good first project for my indoor photo studio, although technically it makes little or no use of the continuous lights I initially made to light the setup.

How to Photograph Fire in a Studio

First things first, a disclaimer:  Take sensible precautions when photographing fire.  Seriously.  I am not responsible if you burn your house down while trying this.  I assume that anyone reading this is either a sensible person that takes necessary precautions when dealing with a dangerous subject, or knows a sensible adult that can assist (and no, I don’t mean the fire brigade).

OK. Legalese finished with.  Lets do some photography.

Photographing flames against a dark background makes them stand out really well, so I started with that.  My first shots were an attempt to add reflections from a black mirror to the flames, but that didn’t work out too well.  I will try this again at a later point.  Right now life is very busy and I just do not have the time as I work in the service sector and it is holiday season.

The shot shown here is just lighter fuel in a teaspoon.

The spoon is held in place by a great photographers assistant called “Third Hand”.  It is supposed to be used for DIY soldering projects and the like, but a bit of pyromancy is within its limits too.  You can buy these from Ebay really cheap.  Mine cost £3.45 (about $5) including delivery.

The advantage of lighting the fuel in a spoon is two fold.  The lighter fuel doesn’t spread out and cause problems, but also you can pre-focus on the spoon and ensure your depth of field will be spot on.  A big hint here: If you have auto focus, focus once and then turn it off.  The spoon isn’t moving and dancing flames drive auto-focus nuts.

Similarly, shooting manual exposure is probably the best bet.  Set an aperture to give you reasonable depth of field (f/8 or f/11 is fine) and guess an exposure.  Yes, I really did say “guess.”  The reason I say guess is because the illumination from the flame varies widely.  From memory, that shot was 1/15th or 1/30th or so at f/11 (100 ISO).

If you really must use auto then try aperture priority and underexpose a few stops with exposure compensation until the flames look right.

Of course I could read the exif data and post it, but then you would have an exact answer an wouldn’t learn anything.   My aims for this site is to help others learn and encourage them, not to prescribe solutions. I hope you understand.

If you shoot digital then getting the exposure correct is trivial.  Shoot a few frames and chimp (look at the LCD screen) the results.  Adjust your exposure until it looks reasonable.  Try and use the same amount of fuel each time as it helps to get a consistent light level.

One last safety note.  If you use a non-flammable surface such as ceramic tiles, or perhaps a glass mirror below the spoon, then you can significantly reduce any fire risks as well as perhaps adding some interesting reflections.

I will post the setup for this shot soon.  I intended to list it as the next post but our cat batted the lights onto the floor, breaking them.

Yes teacher, the cat really did destroy my homework.