Behind the Shots: Raising the Bar
A screengrab from video of Devi spinning fire with the moon.
I remember when I met Devi like it was June 21st, 2023 because well, that’s exactly when we first met. It was the day of summer solstice, and numerologists might be interested to know it was also pretty close to 11:11am. It was way out in the middle of the Moab desert, a place we’d separately hiked to that morning using different routes. Running into each other then and there wasn’t purely coincidental though. We had both arrived, as had several other people, at what is considered a solstice event site. Every year on that day, right about at 11:11am, the sun shines through towering rocks above, casting a unique illumination of ancient native American petroglyphs below. The way everything lines up is quite spectacular, and, spoiler alert, it wasn’t the only remarkable alignment Devi and I have experienced together.
Some petroglyphs near where Devi and I first met on summer solstice, 2023.
I remembered having seen Devi spin fire at least at one event prior to meeting, and witnessed many other times since then, and always thought it would be exciting to combine our passions. We made an attempt at moon photos later in 2023 that didn’t work out because of cloudy conditions, and then earlier this year were once again thwarted with overcast skies. It was probably for the best because Devi was in the midst of a major flu-like illness, and though she was still willing to spin for the shoot, I could tell she was somewhat relieved when it didn’t pan out. I’ve playfully teased her that she was bad luck, as in the 13 years I’ve been photographing people with the moon, I can only recall 3 instances that we went out and couldn’t capture any shots because of clouds, and two of them were with her. Of course that’s a huge joke, as no one would ever genuinely say that about her. She almost always wears a smile, and her radiant personality is simply contagious, making everyone around her smile too. She’s truly one of the most friendly humans I know, and that’s got to be a sign of good fortune. Not to mention, it was high time for the ”third time’s a charm” adage to prove itself true in our case.
Due to our previous unsuccessful attempts, and knowing that Devi would soon be away from Moab for a while, we were both determined to make it happen this time. I planned further in advance than usual to make sure our schedules lined up. As the day approached, I became more certain that I wanted to try video instead of photos. Still images just wouldn’t do justice to the fluidity and movement that defines Devi's artistry. Whether she’s dancing or spinning fire, she is in the flow, and it’s always mesmerizing to watch. Creating this vision with her and the moon would be a challenge for me, not only because I had limited experience with videography, but I also had never captured flames with the moon before. There were some unknowns going into it, but I liked the idea shooting after sunset for better visibility of the flames, but not before it got completely dark.
We trekked together to her position and I left her with a 2-way radio so we could communicate during the shoot. Keep in mind, the photographer has to be quite a distance away to achieve the “big moon” effect (more on that here if you’re interested). As soon as I noticed the top of the moon peeking over the horizon, I alerted Devi to prepare for lighting up. Once started, the fire only lasts a matter of a few minutes, so she alternated between her fire staff and fire rope dart. I managed to reposition several times for more footage, exhilarated throughout the process and eager to see how it was all coming together. I tried to share my reactions with Devi over the radio, as she wouldn't have a clear idea of how it looked until I showed her the footage afterwards. Once I couldn't continue due to the terrain, I packed up and headed back up the hill to meet her on her way down. We excitedly watched some of the video directly off my camera to get a preview of the results, and were delighted and gratified by the success of our collaboration.
A screengrab from video of Devi dancing with her fire rope dart and the moon.
I couldn’t resist sharing a snippet from the evening of magic as soon as I got home, so I posted short clip to my socials. I preferred the rope in the videos, as the flame was larger and visually more prominent. One commenter on the video said, “You keep raising the bar”, and I thought that gave a perfect title for a blog telling the story of this night. The end. Hope you’ve enjoyed some behind the scenes from this special collaboration, if you have any questions on the process just let me know in the comments.
