This is a photo of a match stick in the middle of being lit. The match is held in a "helping hand", about 2" (50mm) in front of an old Bushnell 28mm lens mounted to an old Vivitar 2x macro converter. That setup is adapted to my Fuji X-T20. The Bushnell was at f/8, the macro converter was at 1.15:1. Shutter speed was 1/160. The EXIF data shows a 12mm focal length because I forgot to change the adapter setting in camera. The match is lit using an off camera Yongnuo 560IV, camera right. It's fired by an on camera Yongnuo 560TX. The shot is executed by lighting a second match off camera, touching it to the top of the subject match and triggering the camera with the Fuji remote app on my iPhone. This image was the first of a handful of attempts and the best of the lot. If there's interest, I will make a video of the set up and process for making this image.
Nice job, Chris! Interesting to really see what we have all seen so many times, and quite beautiful in an abstract way. I expected it to be brighter, as the match head itself looks well lit by the ambient light (i.e. apart from the light of the flame).
Thank you Chris.