Photographing sparklers is fun, especially when you are in the mood to pull out something festive or off the beat as an experiment. All you need is a little technique and a lot of imagination. Gavin Hoey in this video shows how he uses a small sparkler and a light bulb to pull out a creative picture.
This is where previsualization comes in handy. Having a clear picture of what you want to achieve helps you get the right things in the right place, which will save you a lot of time and effort. And the next important thing is to choose and assemble the set of needed things.
In this shoot, Hoey uses a black tile that protects from the sparkles and also serve as a reflecting floor. He then places the light bulb in the foreground, with the sparkler just behind it. The idea is to have the sparkler lit and capture it as if the sparkle comes from the center of the light bulb. It is interesting the kind of results you get as you start shooting, balancing the exposure and depth of field for best capturing the sparkles.
With a little help of Photoshop towards the end, he adds that fine touch to bring out a sharp, sparkling image. Check out the video to get a full run of the process.
