In this example these are simple product shots, photographed in the dark, while combining a bit of light-painted torch work at the front, and some kid's sparklers used to highlight the products from the back.
I was quite surprised at how relatively easy this was to achieve some good results.
What's needed:
- Camera + tripod
- Manual metering mode
- Shutter speed 10-25 secs
- Aperture f11 - f22
- ISO 200
- Products (subjects)
- Candles (a good 'extra' to have)
- Cable release, or self-timer
- Somewhere safe to practice (I did this on an outdoor terrace)
- A reliable assistant!
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| This was the basic set up - with a couple of household candles added to provide a little more visual interest (although the candle behind the packaging seems to make little or no difference). (20secs @ f22, ISO200) |
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| Our first sparkler attempt (it helps to have an assistant to get the sparkler effect right) Of course it's very hard to pass the lit sparkler over the objects in a smooth, regular or consistent way - I think this randomness can be seen as an asset. |
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| To boost the effect, I took two different shots and copied and pasted them together in Photoshop Elements, then changed the top layer's Blend Mode from the default 'Normal' to 'Lighten' and you immediately see a huge bonus in terms of the sparkler highlights showing through, while the rest of the shot - the darker bits - make little different to the overall brightness. |
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| Here's sparkler attempt number two - this time with a nice bottle of pop as the subject. The candle behind the bottle produced a nice colour, but I'm sure you'd agree that the shot looks distinctly lacklustre. In a studio you'd use backlighting and/or reflectors to bounce highlights back into the shot to give it more life. Fireworks are a bit more fun. |
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| Then of course, we had to try the wine and finish the bottle to save it from losing its fizz... |
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