As we had already asked our couple to go in for that kiss when they had a chance, everything happened organically. We also asked the guests if they could stand a lot closer to each other so they could form this tunnel of sparklers our couple could go through.
Give her a big kiss! Hold her close and celebrate with her!
We chose to frame this shot in portrait since we wanted to capture their full bodies as well as have the sparklers in the frame. We also positioned ourselves so that we could compose them in the door of the building as it created a natural “frame”.
Center Framed
Focusing in low light can be tricky, and in this case we were fortunate enough to have the sparklers emit quite a bit of light to work with. This meant that our cameras, while not fast, did lock onto our couple and assure a sharp image.
Single Shot Autofocus
Single Point
The couple
The way the EXIF is written out follows the common photographic method (with the inclusion of White Balance at the end). Here it is broken down:
Shutter Speed @ Aperture ISO White Balance.
We love to shoot sparkler exits without flash simply because most sparklers (depending on the amount of guests as well) emit a lot of light. We waited for our couple to get further down the tunnel so that we could frame the rest of the sparklers in the background which naturally created a rim light. This always looks great and really helps to separate your couple from the background.
Sparklers
Night
The edits are made to be warmer with a big focus on skin tones and light play with shadows and highlights. A few minor local adjustments were made (Gradient and Brush) as well as finishing off with a fine layer of grain. The whites are not blown out nor are the blacks 100% crunched.
The biggest challenge was nailing our focus while doing our test shots. We always like to get our exposure and settings correct before the couple exits so we don’t need to worry about it as they start. However, when doing the tests – if you don’t have the sparklers lit, it can be hard to dial it all in.
The best thing to do is to be ready to change your settings. As the couple was lined up and about to start walking with the sparklers already lit, we quickly checked the back of our screen to make sure that we were exposing correctly.
Shustoke Barn
Shustoke Barn Shustoke Barn, Coleshill Road, Shustoke, Coleshill B46 2BL, United Kingdom
Wedding / Event Venue
United Kingdom
If you have a few ideas you’d like to do during the sparkler exit, make sure you find your couple just before (and not 2 hours before) they go for the exit and give them a heads up.
If it happens that they get through the exit and forget, then just gently remind them. If it’s too late, no worries at all.
When you have a group of guests holding the sparklers, chances are they are going be a little too far away from each other through fear that they might burn the couple (which we don’t want to happen), but asking them to stand a bit closer (check in your framing) can make all the difference.
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