1 Flame, set and match!

Fire up your imagination and shoot a striking shot

1 Create your scene

A black backdrop and somewhere safe to light a match is the only ‘studio’ you need for this ultra-simple but really effective photo. Push your matchstick into a ball of Blu-Tack, so that it‘s held firmly and won’t fall over. We placed a nonflammable tile underneath to make sure we could ignite the match as safely as possible, and we recommend that you take similar precautions.

2 Set up your camera

You‘ll work in Manual for this shot, as it’s impossible to meter as the match flares. Set an ISO of 800, a shutter speed of at least 1/800 sec and an aperture of f/11. You can tweak these settings depending on how brightly your match burns. Focus on the tip of the match manually. It’s really important that you set your Drive Mode to fire continuously when you press the shutter.

3 Fire off a shot!

You will find it easier to fire the shutter via a cable or remote release, so you can light the match with another, and start shooting before the main one ignites. Fire a burst of shots as the match sparks into life, moving your hand out of the way quickly. You’ll have a few ‘dud’ frames to delete, but you’ll also find one that gives you a perfect capture of what the eye doesn’t see.