Shooting Challenge: Dual Sparkler ExposuresS

We've done long exposures. And many of you have blown things up with fireworks. For this week's Shooting Challenge, we're combining the ideas in a technique that looks hard but anyone can pull off.

The Challenge

Take a dual-exposure photo with a sparkler implying motion.

The Technique

So here's how it works. Long exposures are great for light painting, but they leave your figure all blurry and undefined. Meanwhile, flash photography can isolate a subject in a dark room, but that's kind of ugly on its own.

As explained in the above video, you'll lock your camera on a tripod and take two shots: First, have a subject do something with a sparkler in their hand or attached to an object (safely, of course). It can be mundane, like putting away dishes, or really sporty, like swinging a baseball bat. Take a long (3-ish-second) exposure shot of that.

Then, put the sparkler away. Have your subject do the exact same thing, with your camera in the exact same spot, and take a photo of normal length. If you're in a dark environment, and you may want to be to exacerbate the sparkler effect, you'll probably need to use flash to capture your subject frozen in motion.

After that, combine the two images in post production. You'll probably just want to layer the sparks on top and erase everything else from the image, but I could imagine doing some interesting things with layering if you have the Photoshop talent.

To make the photos pop, keep in mind, the sparkler is almost like a speed line, or a means to trace out the motion or path of the figure. It doesn't need to line up 1:1 to work, but it should be related.

The Example

Our lead shot is from Dave Lehl, who also created the great little tutorial you see here. I can almost guarantee, his friends skateboard better than your friends. So don't let anyone get hurt trying all this X-games crap. Mundane can be cool in its own way. (via petapixel)

The Rules

0. No watermarks. They're so ugly.
1. Submissions need to be your own.
2. Photos must be taken since this contest was announced.
4. Email submissions to, not me.
6. One submission per person.

Send your best photo by Monday, February 11th at 10AM Eastern to with "Spark" in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs, and use a FirstnameLastnameSpark.jpg (970px wide) and FirstnameLastnameSparkWallpaper.jpg (2560px wide) naming conventions. Include your shooting summary (camera, lens, ISO, etc) in the body of the email along with a story of the shot in a few sentences. And don't skip this story part because it's often the most enjoyable part for us all beyond the shot itself!