1 Deep freeze
Make your ice blocks in advance – start at least the day
before your shoot. It ’s a good idea to make multiple ice
blocks so that you have more options available. Make
them in plastic tubs and just pour warm water over the
underside of the box to get your block out.
4 Prop it up
Position your ice above the candles, either by propping it
up (use the edge of the tray, jars, cans, or anything you
like as long as it ’s out of shot), or suspending it from
above on string. If you suspend it, use multiple pieces
of string to stabilise it and stop it spinning.2 Back to black
Set up your backdrop and light. We used a black cloth to
isolate our subject, with a standard 40-watt household
lamp to the right to light the scene. It’s also a good idea
to put down a tray that’ll sit underneath your subject to
catch dripping water and any candle wax.5 Open wide
As your scene is likely to be low-lit, you might need to
use a slowish shutter speed, so place your camera on a
tripod if you need to. Keep the depth of field shallow, with
an aperture of, say, f/3.2 to separate the subject from
the background. Set ISO to 100 to eliminate noise.
3 Hold a candle
Position your candles against your background (but not
too close), remembering you’ll need to suspend the ice
above them. One flame isn’t particularly effective, so
we arranged three candles in a line. Wider shots full of
smaller tealights can also result in interesting shapes.
6 Ice melt
Light the candles and shoot from low down to crop out
the tray and any stands used to hold up the ice. The ice
will melt quickly; this is great for showing the defrosting
process, but means you have to shoot quickly. Only light
the candles when you’re ready to shoot.STEP BY STEP / Fire and ice
WATCH
THE VIDEO
Smokin’ cold
For something a bit
different, try focusing
on creating smoke
around your subject.
Sit the ice in a metal
tray and place pieces
of cardboard around
the sides of the cube,
then set them alight.
Smoke will rise over
and around the ice,
creating a shrouded,
elemental scene. Be
sure to do this in an
open space with a
nearby door or window
open for safety.Watch the video online at bit.ly/NPhoto56 March 2016 49
MELTING MACROS