Camping is one of my favorite activities because it gives me many excuses to do other things that I love like hiking, exploring, photography and sitting around the campfire. There is something primal about the sight of dancing flames, the glow of the hot coals, the sensation of intense heat on the face and the different smells of smoke made by different woods. Most humans are drawn to a campfire, it probably is an adaptive, those that were not afraid of fire were warmed by it, sanitized their food over it and used it to make tools. Those early ancestors that cowered in the corner of the cave from fire, froze to death. I’m being very simplistic about it, but it probably rings true.
There are two dangers in photographing campfires. One is you get burned, and the other is not enjoying fire. While camping last week I nearly brought out the camera and tripod and again turned the attention of the lens to the flames, sparks and coals, but I didn’t. I instead turned my gaze to the fire, contemplated the day, and my family sitting around it. The moment past without the recording of an image, and that is how it should be most of the time.
Photographed with a Nikon D100 dslr.