Love this night time pic but what are the camera settings?

<p>Good morning from York UK :-)<br /> This link points to a pic i really like <a href="/bboard/">http://www.chrishanleyphotographyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/barnes0304.jpg</a> But a recent attempts i made of replicating the fun with sparklers type shot got poor results :-(<br /> When taking pictures with sparklers how do you make sure you get enough light on your subjects to see them but not too much light to know out the sparklers?<br /> Any insights welcome,<br />Grazie tanto,<br />David<br>

If the link doesnt work please just just and paste this into the address bar:<br />http://www.chrishanleyphotographyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/barnes0304.jpg</p>

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<p>Shoot in dark enough conditions that a long enough exposure to trap the sparklers doesn't over-expose the subjects. Then use a flash to light the subjects.</p>

<p>Seems to me that that image is a composition of two images, one a slightly darkened and blurred image of the people, and another of the sparkler writing layered upon it post capture.</p>

<p>It's not likely a composition. Just probably a 5 second exposure, give or take, plus a rear-curtain flash (in this particular case, with the flash set too low to make this a very good sample of this technique). </p>

<p>Thanks for your replies guys I'm going to give this a practice & see what happens :-)</p>

<p>My last wedding the bride showed me a picture of sparklers around a couple and asked if I could do it. Since I do a lot of night photography chasing the aurora I said sure. This is what we came up with:<br /><a href="http://www.wasillawedding.com/2013/01/light-painting-with-sparklers/">http://www.wasillawedding.com/2013/01/light-painting-with-sparklers/</a><br>

5 second exposure, f5.6 ISO 100. </p>