Fun With Photography - Flaming Ice

Any photo that makes people look twice is generally a good thing. Photos of ice on fire are a sure way to make viewers look twice! This idea came from our Chemistry Guide, Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., and is certainly a fun way to spend a day! On a safety note - fire does burn, play it safe and be careful. No one wants to burn themselves or their house!

Items Needed

• Ice straight out of the freezer
• 90% or higher rubbing alcohol
• Aluminum foil
• Metal or ceramic base (anything the heat won't bother)
• Long lighter

Step one
Cover the top of your base in aluminum foil (shiny side up). This gives you a nice clean base for your ice fire and the reflection is nice too. I find that a ceramic saucer turned upside down works great as the small ridge on the bottom prevents the alcohol from running away from the ice.

Step two
Pour a capful or two of the rubbing alcohol on the base and quickly set the ice on top.

Step three
Carefully set the alcohol on fire.

Step four
Snap away before the flames die down.

Hints
• Use manual focus and prefocus on the ice before setting it on fire.


• Use a shutter speed of around 1/60 or 1/90 of a second to prevent too much blurring of the flame.


• Turn off any fans in the room. The flames will move enough to be interesting without any additional breeze in the room. Any extra breeze could make the flames burn out quicker.


• Don't use your flash. You will likely get nasty reflections off the ice and wash out the flames if you use your flash.


• Use a dark background. Even a dark painted wall with work fine. The dark background will make the ice and flame show up better in your photos.


• Shoot from the side instead of looking down. If you shoot looking down at the flaming ice you will risk burning your lens (or yourself) and you will lose contrast of the ice to the base.

You can find more options for the flaming ice itself in Anne Marie's Flaming Ice Tutorial.