This one was taken during a Halloween party in Kansas City, Missouri back in 2008. The performer here was probably the best of the bunch who were taking turns. He wasn't afraid of the camera, and understood his space to know whether or not he was too close, and what would look good on camera.

I used to use an off-camera flash when I did these, which would freeze the person to get a nice sharp image of their face & body, in combination with a good long shutter speed - up to about 1 second - to capture the detail in the fire, as well as a bit of the ambient venue light to capture a bit of the subject's environment. Much longer than that and it just begins looking like a big knotted ball of fire, which tends to obscure the face and look sloppy.

I also found that the best shots can be taken near the end of the performance, just as the fire begins to dim and be less overpowering. It's a fun balance to find.

To learn more about the #wwtop5pix initiative, PLEASE CLICK HERE.