Sparklers At Weddings – Guide to getting amazing wedding photography
Sparklers at weddings! What a great way to finish off your wedding album or wedding day with some relaxed wedding photography!
I love shooting sparklers at weddings, there a great way to create some amazing wedding memories!
But…they need a lot of organising and planning, as they are notoriously difficult to arrange but are worth the trouble. So here`s a quick guide to help you lovely wedding couples out.
#1 –Please do not forget to get permission from Your Wedding Venue!
This should be obvious, but its shocking the number of times I am shooting and the manager of the venue stumbles over with a horrified look on their face having just been told that a crowd of tipsy revellers are going to lighting sparklers!
The venue does need to know, and I would advise that you discuss this in advice so all health and safety issues can be addressed and that everybody is happy. The last thing you want is for the venue to say no! Venues like Bassmead Manor Barns are perfect for sparklers as they have huge outdoor areas to use.
#2: Buying the Wrong Sparklers
Do not cheap out on this – buy twice as many as you think you`ll need and buy them with a sixty second fuse on. Nobody can have any fun with the smaller ones. Their rubbish and they just won’t light properly.
#3 – Forgetting to Speak to Your Photographer before hand
Again, this should be obvious. I prefer to organise this myself as I know exactly how I want these types of images to look, and I usually have to set up extra flash guns on stands to capture these photos, so everybody looks killer!
There`s health and safety concerns too (especially involving drunk people) so do listen to the advice your photographer gives you. They do this week in and week out!
#4 – Using Matches
Just do not do this. Invest in some decent fire lighters and arrange for the ushers to hand these out and generally help. This will save so much time and grief.
#5 – Not Planning Your Sparkler Photo Around Sunset
So many couples think that you need to shoot this in the dark, but I say no. I think the images look so much better with some natural light in the sky, right around dusk as this gives the photography a strong “festival” feel, and the mixture of natural light ( dusk ) and artificial light ( flash guns and sparklers ) looks so dynamic.
And the final rule, that is not really is a rule, is just have fun!!!
