Sequin fabric looks awesome but it is not so photography friendly. The problem lies in the way it creates hot spots and sparkling patterns, making it difficult to light. But then, there is always something useful you can do with anything, provided you look beyond the obvious.
In this video, Gavin Hoey explains how he created a sparkling background using a simple Sequin fabric as a model's dress. It is all about light, and how you play with light. He begins on deciding the light source, small or big, deciding on what will give more sparkles.
Our usual thought would be, more lights more sparkles. But it does not work that way. It is a smaller light source that gives more sparkles. He then hops on with trials and errors, allowing him to arrive at a three light set up that brings on the best of the sparkles in the background. He goes on shooting the model in different poses and captures different sparkling effect. With a little post processing towards the end, it is amazing to see how the situation has turned around. The technique overall is very simple but what matters here is the thought process. Often as photographers, we are in a rut and find it hard to think outside the box. The beauty lies in embracing the situation rather than ignoring it like he rightly says and begins this video with. Give it a full watch to understand the process and the result.
Cool idea!