Michael and Emily often spend their weekends in Capitola, Ca...which is also going to be the location of their wedding, next year. They wanted to have forest engagement photography, which made Big Basin Redwoods State Park the perfect choice for their engagement session. We had a fantastic time exploring Big Basin with them! Big props to the both of them for being up for anything (and essentially to Emily for climbing up and over trees in a skirt and tall wedges)! We can hardly wait for their wedding!

Photography:
Ocean Blue Photography and Design
http://www.oceanbluephotographyanddesign.com
[email protected]
209.485.6124 / 310.869.0785
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/oceanbluephoto
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/oceanbluephoto
pinterest:http://pinterest.com/oceanbluephoto
instagram: http://instagram.com/oceanbluephoto

Location:
21600 Big Basin Way, Boulder Creek, CA 95006
Big Basin Redwoods State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of California, located in Santa Cruz County, about 36 km northwest of Santa Cruz.

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The summer has just began, and you know what that means: Sparkler pics are about to light up your social media feeds and the night! Sparkler pictures are fun and magical. I mean who doesn't love sparklers? They have become more and more popular at weddings and many use them to write words or draw during long exposures. We thought that we would get a jump on things and play with some sparklers of our own. Below are the results...and keep scrolling for some tips and tricks for capturing your own photos.

Ready to try it for yourself? Here's some tips and tricks for long-exposures:

Things you will need:

• A LOT of sparklers.
• A camera with manual settings.
• A tripod. 
• A flash.
• No ambient light.

Tips:

• If you want to write a word, try to use one person per letter or use one person to write words in cursive. (An easy way to do this is to have the subject hold the sparkler and then have another person light another sparkler off of their already lite sparkler to write a word or make a shape. This makes it appear like the subject wrote the word, but in fact another person did. You can even come out from behind the camera, after tripping the shutter, and write the word yourself.)
• Make sure to write the letters backwards so the camera sees the words the correct way. 
• Have your subject hold as still as possible, while the flash fires. The flash will help to stop their movement but it will not freeze them completely. So they still need to hold as still as possible.
• If it's too dark to focus the camera, you can light a sparkler, hold it where you want your focus to be, and focus on it, or use a flashlight to set your focus before you start your exposure.
• Shutter speed should be anywhere between 3 seconds and 30 seconds, depending on what kind of shape we wanted Karly to draw. To draw a simple circle, it wouldn't take any longer then 3 seconds. To draw something more elaborate, you would need more time. Since it is dark outside, you can get away with leaving your shutter open for a long time.
• Count out loud, during the exposure, so everyone has the same timing, “One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three.” (The motion to draw or create letters should start on “one” and end on “three.”)
• An aperture of anywhere between f/11 or f/16 works well. The higher your aperture the more your sparkler will be defined. If you are more wide open your sparkler will appear less defined and more like balls of light.

Steps:

• Place your camera on a tripod.
• Think about what you want to draw and set the shutter speed to last for the right amount of time. 
• Set your aperture.
• Have your subject stand in place and focus on them.
• Fire a test shot with your flash to make sure that everything is exposed properly, before using sparklers. Once you have a good looking photo, with out sparklers, you know that you are ready for the real shot.
• Pose your subject, light the sparkler, release the shutter, your flash will fire. Once the flash has gone off, let the sparkler movement begin. 

Photography:
Ocean Blue Photography and Design
website: http://www.oceanbluephotographyanddesign.com
email: [email protected]
phone: 209.485.6124 / 310.869.0785
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/oceanbluephoto
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/oceanbluephoto
pinterest:http://pinterest.com/oceanbluephoto
instagram: http://instagram.com/oceanbluephoto
snapchat: oceanbluephoto

keywords: portrait photographer, portrait photoshoot, portrait photo shoot, portrait session, modesto portrait, turlock portrait, oakdale portrait, ceres portrait, hughson portrait, modesto senior portraits, modesto senior photos, modesto senior pictures, turlock senior portraits, turlock senior photos, turlock senior pictures, modesto senior portrait photographer, modesto senior portrait photography, turlock senior portrait photographer, turlock senior portrait photography, modesto photographer, downtown modesto photographer

Photography:
Ocean Blue Photography and Design
website: http://www.oceanbluephotographyanddesign.com
email: [email protected]
phone: 209.485.6124 / 310.869.0785
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/oceanbluephoto
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/oceanbluephoto
pinterest:http://pinterest.com/oceanbluephoto
instagram: http://instagram.com/oceanbluephoto
snapchat: oceanbluephoto

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