Controlled Burn Reno

Wow
This group has a lot going on outside of Burning Man. They had the biggest group performing at Compression recently. A friend’s husband has been working with this group to perfect his skills at spinning fire. This group had all ages on stage. It was cool to see the kids as young as 10 spinning lights, as they master their art they’ll get real fire like the big kids. There was just so much going on– batons, rings, chains and fans, all on fire. They had incredible choreographed dances. Each costume had its own flare and yet the entire company melded together. What a fascinating group.
Off stage there was a giant fire cannon shooting massive flames into the sky over the audience. On the other side of the stage and old van converted into a unique fire thrower. It was like a calliope that mixed music and flames. Across the back of the stage was this massive, I mean beyond huge, structure or pipes that created nine forks tossing up more flames that kept up with the music and stage performance.
It was incredible and I’m glad I got to sit down from and enjoy this amazing group. And all that warm heat drifting over the crowd was fabulous too. Angie B you would have loved it on the cool summer night.

The phone number listed above, 378‑0000, is incorrect,
The contact phone number for Controlled Burn Reno is
775−762−8510
The website address is correct.

I first saw Controlled Burn a few years ago in San Francisco’s Union Square during the Annual Temple of Poi’s free Fire-​Dancing Expos. I’ve been seeing a few of these annual amazing fire expos now, and Controlled Burn has been an integral part of the SF fire expo. Yesterday 28 July 2012 was when I was able to attend, photograph and watch with AWE Reno’s very own amazing 5^th Annual Compression! Art and Fire and what an event it was! It was fabulous, and included Burning Man vehicles and personalities, and on center-​stage downtown Reno City Plaza converted to Reno’s very own (smaller) version of Burning man. In stage were hoopers, martial arts moves, flying aerialists, belly dancers, drill team bands and acrobatic beauty. There was also gypsies, performances by the Bay Area’s Temple of Poi’s members, the Vulcan Crew, the Oregon Conclave, Black Rock City All-​Stars, the eNVision Performing Arts, and a grand finale by the event’s host: Controlled Burn. It’s fantastic enough to see all this fab performances but add to this as night fell the artistic and fiery addition of propane flame effects by Dave King of Controlled Burn and programmed by Stu D’Alessandro which added a incredible and unique background «curtain» after each fire-​dancing and performance end with bursts of flame, and the whole event ending with a fiery dance party! If you haven’t seen a fire event ever, or yes you have, I’d highly recommend seeing this event for an awesome fire display which will rock your visual senses plus fry your skin even 100 yards away! WoW!
Photographically Speaking: Photographing a fire scene is not easy. Night scenes are difficult as it goes, then add bright flashes of fiery flames and it all calls for a nearly-​impossible scene. Use a steady heavy tripod and a fast eye/​hand coordination to determine correct exposures. Use longer exposures of about 1 – 3 secs for capturing the flaming designs but shorter exposures starting at abt ¹⁄₃₀^th of a sec or higher to record the individual performances and details. For organized events like this be first to contact them to get permission to snap, plus get closer. If not, then be sure to get a clear spot yet not block anyone else’s view, after all everyone wants to see the awesomeness of such an event! A wide-​angle might get you a good scene shot but a short/​long telephoto zoom will get you some incredible closeups once you get your exposures pat-​down. Be sure to bring a short portable chair and maybe even knee-​pads to save your joints against the hard ground. Have fun!