Viator-Defessus Photos wrote:
When I first started out I tried to shoot fire with a friend at his request. I was still very new and I was using a kit lens which just wasn't cutting it for what he was doing. We've talked about going back and trying again now that it's close to a year later but it hasn't happened yet. I have gotten to shoot out at the Brayton Fire Training Field though and gotten some nice shots. Not quite the same as what you're trying to do, but still quite fun.

im not sure what camera you are using, but I've shot fire and stuff using kit lenses all the time.  No way I take good glass to shows like that!
the images I posted were with either a sony 18-70, minolta 28-100 or sony 18-55.  The sony 18-70 died sometime that spring but i dont remember which show the promoter pushed me over a floor monitor wedge landing lens first. but all of those were shot with a max 3.5 aperture. what problems did you have?