Practice pays off. I knew that I would be shooting a sparkler exit for this wedding and having never shot one before I knew that I needed to do my research and practice. A sparker exit done well always leeds to a great photo.
A few weeks before the wedding I did some visual research on sparkler exists just to see what a good sparkler exit photo looked like. Then I looked into what settings worked best as a base point. I didn’t want to be guessing on the wedding day as I knew we only had one go at this so I went out and got my own sparklers and got a couple of friends to hold onto them on a dark street at night and walk towards me to practice. I felt like I really had it down after this, and it was time to execute.
Come sparkler exit time we scouted out a spot that would be great for this shot. It needed to be dark enough so that the sparklers would show up well and it also needed to be long and wide enough to fit all of their guests. To place the guests successfully you need them to be tight and packed close together, as close as possible. This way the light is more concentrated. The couple used the longest sparklers available, which gave them the longest burn time, allowing them to take their time as they walked. It’s also important to bring nearly as many lighters as sparklers so that they can be lit as close to the same time as possible. Every guest that was still there had a sparkler in their hands.
What I didn’t expect when shooting this was for the couple to do a dip and kiss. This totally caught me by surprise, but I loved that it was an in the moment thing and really adds to the photo.
This photo was taken in Vancouver, BC.