WEDDING TECHNIQUES | HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH SPARKLERS AT WEDDINGS
WHAT IS A SPARKLER EXIT AT WEDDINGS?
A wedding sparkler exit is a popular way for newly married couples to make a memorable departure from their wedding ceremony or reception. The guests typically gather outside the wedding venue, holding lit sparklers (or small sticks of fire), and as the newly married couple exits the venue, they walk through a pathway created by the guests, who wave the sparklers, creating a sparkling tunnel of light, which can make for some fun photos to end the wedding day.
REPEATABLE ACTIONS
At every wedding, each moment or event on a wedding day (from a photographic point of view) can be broken down into repeatable actions.
I know on a wedding day which lenses I will use for wedding prep, which lens to use for people walking down the aisle, and which combo for confetti and the speeches.
Capturing sparklers on a wedding day is no different; I use the same camera, lens, LED light, and pretty much the same settings at each wedding; this gives me consistency and the confidence to get great sparkler exit photos time after time.
LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
I do not use flash for capturing sparklers on a wedding day. I find flash to be harsh, and often, it can kill an ambient light you get from the sparklers (there will be some who will tell me to learn to flash better, and they are probably right :).
With a sparkler exit, you often do not have much time from getting outside, the sparklers being lit, to the couple walking through them, and in this time, you need to make sure people are stood in the right place, you need to dial in the settings of the camera and then add in working out the flash power? Nah - too much faff for me.
I find the easiest and the best way of capturing sparklers on a wedding day is to use a small pocketable (ish) LED light panel, like the Lume Cube Panel Go (shown below).
These little lights pack a lot of punch for their size and can be held at any angle you like to help get the right light on the couple.
CAMERA & LENS
Go wide with the lens choice.
I love using my 20mm F1.8 G lens for capturing sparklers at weddings.
It gives you a great perspective of the walking line of people, and because I’m holding an LED light panel to light the couple, I have to get close as the light is not powerful enough to light the couple from 20 feet away to allow me to use a 35mm lens or a 50mm lens.
So for the lens choice for sparklers, go 20mm or 24mm.
CAMERA SETTINGS
For capturing sparklers at weddings, I use a hybrid manual mode for exposure and a large single box for autofocus, which I keep in the center of the frame (not tracking, as we do not want the AF to jump to someone else in the line).
I flick the camera to manual mode; I set the shutter speed and the aperture, and then let the camera decide on the ISO as a balance to the setting I have chosen.
For the shutter speed, I would look to keep this to as close to 1/200th as possible, as I will be walking backward with the couple.
I want to balance the need for a fast enough shutter speed to help with camera shake as I walk backwards, but not be too fast a shutter speed, which would cut down the light getting into the camera and force the ISO to go too high.
Aperture is subjective, and down to the look you are after, the amount of light in the scene, and how likely you think the couple will be roughly on the same plane of focus when walking towards you, I typically will go for a safe number like F2.
ISO: This is the hybrid setting; I use Auto-ISO and let the camera decide what the ISO needs to be to give me a balanced exposure.
I always take a few shots to make sure that the ISO is not going to be too high (I’m happy to shoot at 25600 on my A1’s if needs be), and if the ISO is going too high, I’d look to move my shutter speed down to 1/160th or 1/125th, but knowing that there will likely be some camera shake from me walking.
In summary:
Shutter speed is 1/200 (but down to 1/125 if needed).
The aperture is F2 (if you can, going to f2.8 will give you more room for error)
ISO will be on auto ISO (by us taking control of the SS and AP, let the camera balance the ISO for good exposure)
GETTING THE SHOT
Once we have dialed in the settings for the camera and the LED panel turned up to full power, we are ready for the couple.
I hold the LED panel in my left hand and have it high up to the left of me; this helps in not making the couple look flat when lit.
I hold the camera in my right hand and use the back LCD panel to check to make sure the couple is somewhat in the middle of the frame. With a 20mm lens, I have quite a lot of room to play with, and if the couple gets too close, they have to be really close for me to chop heads or feet off in the frame when using a 20mm lens.
For the autofocus, I’m using a single large box, which I center in the middle of the frame and have the camera focus inside that square box (If I remember, I turn off eye AF, which helps the camera to not jump to other people who may be close or in the frame)
I will take lots of images of the sparkler exit as it is very easy for one of the couple to not be looking in the right direction, or their feet landing in an odd way in the photo; by taking a lot of pictures, you are giving yourself the best chance to get a winning sparkler exit photo.
BONUS TIP - PICKING THE LOCATION
Often, the wedding venue will have a place where they prefer the confetti and the sparkler exit to take place; if this is the case, you have to go with what the venue says.
But, if you are given a choice, I would always look for a composition with light in the back of the shot.
If you look at the photo below, you can see there is a light on the right-hand side of the couple, this was a security light, and I knew that if I got my angles right, the security light would light up the smoke from the sparklers and would add some depth to the pictures, rather than people be lost into the darkness.
BONUS TIP - MANAGING PEOPLE
Little fire sticks and drunk people, it’s going to be risky, but it is important to remember that although you are the photographer, you should not be the one lighting the sparklers; you can offer people advice on where to stand and to make sure that people give the couple enough room when they walk down, but do not tell people what to be doing with the little sticks of fire, if they want to mess around with them, then let them - do not put your self in the position where they can come for you for damages if they do something and hurt themselves or someone else.
Be polite to people and grab a few images of people waiting for the couple with the sparklers, but let the venue do the organizing - let them use their insurance if something goes wrong!
BONUS TIP - THE STOP AND KISS
Before the couple starts their walk through the sparkler tunnel, I’ll quickly have a word with them to say:
Keep it steady when walking through the sparklers; do not rush; it is not a race to reach the end!
When they are halfway down, stop and kiss each other. This helps you get a static shot of the couple with their family and friends around them, but it also gives you a chance to get a shot just in case you have messed up with the couple walking towards you.
