Header photo: Darth Blaise waiting in the shadows by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

One Bright Spark is a hobbyist photographer based in Exeter, United Kingdom, who has shared many of his shoots with the PurplePort community. He's been interviewed for PurplePort before, appearing in our SHARE A SHOOT series in 2023, which featured his shoot with model Amber (his daughter) in a field of daisies.

After sharing another shoot (this time featuring model Blaise Ignacia) with the PurplePort community, Jason (from One Bright Spark) generously gave us his time for a quick interview, where he shared how these fabulous images were created, the inspirations behind the shoot, how it was planned, the camera gear he used, and much more.

SHARE A SHOOT with One Bright Spark

How did you come up with the concept? Did anything inspire you?

The concept was simple, really, and born from a combination of love and passion for Star Wars and also inspiration from Blaise after a shoot I did with her. I have always had the idea to do a Star Wars-themed shoot of some sort (Jedi/Sith) in the back of my mind. I just had to meet the right model who could make that idea become a reality and also share the passion for all things sci-fi/fantasy, Star Wars, etc. 

I've been on PurplePort and doing model shoots for just over a year now. I have been fortunate to work with some amazing models and continue to learn and practice different themes/styles, which keeps everything fun and helps feed my creativity. There are so many great models around now who are into sci-fi/fantasy/cosplay, and I was lucky enough to organise a shoot with a local model, Blaise, just before Halloween last year, which led me on the path to the 'dark side'!!!

We originally did an alternative fashion shoot. Below are a couple of images from the shoot:

Blaise - taking a break oldskool vibe mono by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

Blaise up close and personal by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

And also some Halloween shots:

The gaze of the witch duotone by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

Summoning the dark arts of magic by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

On this shoot, we really clicked and worked so well together. From that moment, I instantly had a vision of Blaise as a Sith, so I found my Star Wars model. Blaise inspired me, and I knew she would be perfect. She had the right look, style, energy, and vibe I was after. Luckily, when I mentioned the idea to her, she was really keen, so we decided this would be our next shoot. The Deathstar plan was hatched.

What did you do to plan the shoot?

While both of us agreed it would be fun to do the Star Wars Sith shoot, patience was needed. Our first shoot was at the start of winter, and Blaise really does not get on with the cold, so we agreed to do the shoot when it was warmer.

I tend to shoot mainly on location (and don't really do too much studio work), so a cosy, warm studio was not in the equation for this particular shoot. I wanted a natural environment with rock formations and a remote feeling to give us a Star Wars-type universe feel, with the possibility of me doing some extra post-work to achieve the vision in my head.

Luckily I live in Devon and both of us are not too far from moorland so this was the obvious setting offering rock formations and a remote feel. I started sourcing the props we would need, such as a lightsaber, cloak, and anything to give us a dark, sinister look, possibly with a cyborg-ish element.

For the cyborg look, I sourced a mask and some cyberpunk-style facial jewellery, which would give the look a darker vibe. Luckily, for the rest of the outfit, Blaise is into alternative fashion, so she has some awesome outfits that would fit great with the theme. I left that to her, and she came up trumps.

Leading up to the shoot, I sent Blaise a moodboard of the type of vibe I was after, and she was really on board with everything and as excited as I was for our shoot.

How did you arrange the shoot?

We arranged to shoot for mid-March. The date arrived, and Blaise was recovering from a nasty bug but really wanted to shoot on our arranged date and didn't want to let me down, so we went for it and travelled to the Moors.

Unfortunately, the Moors had other ideas (as it has its own climate). It hammered down with rain, and the wind was really wild, so we drove around looking for the right spot and waited for a break in the weather, but it never really came.

The mist was down, and it pretty much stayed the whole time. We did manage to get out at one point and try to get some shots in a sheltered area, but it felt like the world was against us as the wind and rain returned with revenge also, so we decided to call it a day and re-arrange for another date.

We did manage to get one shot, which I did some composite work with (so we could both post something on Star Wars Day - May 4th), but we were both determined to do the full shoot, so we re-arranged for a later date. We had to wait until June to get a date when we were both available and give us a better chance of decent weather on the moors. 

Original Darth Blaise shot with Mask (in between the wind and rain) by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

What was it like shooting at that location?

Our second attempt at the shoot was successful, and our location was a forest at Burrator Reservoir near Tavistock. I had previously shot some landscapes there, so I knew it was quite lush with lots of green moss, trees, and rocks. This was the vibe I was after and on reflection, was perhaps a better location than our original attempt of more open moorland or a Dartmoor Tor.

We arrived early evening and shot until it was pitch black. We found a few nice rock formations and shadowy trees, and Blaise had so much fun swinging the lightsabers around and becoming a Sith for a few hours. The time did fly by as we explored the area and we tried various poses and shots.

Unfortunately, by the end of the shoot, we both were bitten to shred by midges, who started their feast once it became dusk. So, lesson one learnt - if you shoot in an open forest at the start of summer and stay until dark, make sure you plaster yourself in insect repellant! For the last hour I felt like I was on a different planet being crawled all over by creatures - the things we do for the love of Star Wars!

I am a natural light shooter, so I am always looking for the light and try not to use any other light sources (for speed, mainly, but I am also quite mobile when I shoot, so I am probably too impatient). However, on this occasion, I had the advantage of a very nice NSaber (a replica light saber—Darth Maul's, for those interested), which was the main prop for the shoot.

My plan was for this to be my main light source - especially once I lost the sun and hoped it would give us a nice bright glowing light to illuminate Blaise and help with the sinister Sith-like feeling. It did the trick pretty well, although I was pushing the limits of my camera and lenses and, near the end, had to crank up the ISO and risk noise in the images.

I think the images generally managed to visualise what I was after and replicate the vision in my head reasonably well. I learnt a few good lessons on the way, and in order to bring balance to the Force, I should really now do a Jedi Shoot. I did have something planned with another model, but unfortunately, the model is no longer modelling, so if there are any models interested in learning the ways of the Force and becoming Master Jedi, I'd be happy to hear from them!

Tell us about the gear you used.

I use a Canon R6 mirrorless body and a range of Canon L EF lenses with a R to EF convertor. The camera is a brilliant body and does tend to do very well even in low light, but even with my fast lenses (Canon EF 35mm 1.4, Canon EF 50mm L f1.2, Canon EF 85mm L f1.4 IS II, Canon 135mm L f2 and the Canon 70-200 IS L f2.8), I was really pushing the limits of the sensor. This, alongside my stubbornness not to use any other lighting, meant I had to work at quite a high ISO during the later part of the shot. This was a good way to find out the limits of what your kit can do, and I just about got away with it, thankfully. Perhaps lesson two learnt is to use lights for fill if you need to, even if it slows you down a little.

I shoot all images in RAW and then edit in Lightroom and/or Photoshop. For some of the edits, I had to do quite a bit of post-work to add some more atmosphere (smoke and fire), as I wanted a feeling of Darth Blaise being a fearless Sith and Jedi hunter/killer in an alien environment. I wanted the story to be about her visiting a hostile planet to hunt down and destroy the Jedi, hiding in the shadows and ensuring the cleansing of the Jedi Order. The final look was also heavily inspired by Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith (Episode 3) where Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker fight on a volcanic planet so my edits were a little homage to that.

An example of the pre-composite shot:

Darth Blaise no fire and smoke - before extensive edit (RAW image before editing and adding the fire, smoke and planet, etc.) by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

And then, after some post-composite editing:

Darth Blaise in the flames by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

What's your favourite image from the shoot?

It is hard to choose a favourite, but if I had to, it would be the shot above with the extensive edit in which I have added smoke, fire effects and a surrounding planet environment.

Although a close second favourite would be this one:


Darth Blaise in the cloud of fire by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

I like it because it very much encompasses Darth Blaise coming out of the shadows of the night, ready to strike down any Jedi in her way.

Other shots offer the same hiding-in-the-shadows vibe...

Darth Blaise close up by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

Darth Blaise hiding in the shadows by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

Darth Blaise waiting in the shadows by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

Darth Blaise kneeling ready to attack Jedi by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

Darth Blaise close up by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

A couple of behind-the-scenes images that didn't make the original share a shoot were...

Darth Blaise - crossed sabres by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

I can't put my finger on why I don't quite feel it.

Darth Blaise on ship (this one didn't make the cut) by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

Blaise and I both thought the background just looked too AI and perfect. We are both not fans of AI work and prefer a more gritty feel, especially for this type of shoot. So I made a start on editing but didn't quite finish this one as Blaise was not keen either.

We also ditched the cyborg-like mask for most of the shots (see image below). I feel it hides some of her expression, which helps create the sinister and fearless Sith emotion she was so good at creating with her modelling skills. Plus, it was very hot for Blaise to wear, so as always, model comfort should be a big consideration.

Blaise with mask on Darth Blaise by photographer One Bright Spark with model Blaise Ignacia

Thank you, One Bright Spark, for sharing your creativity, experience and images with us. We loved learning all about your photoshoot with model Blaise Ignacia!

We hope you all loved it, too. Don't forget to check out the links below to see more of One Bright Spark's work!

Here's where you can find more of One Bright Spark's work

PurplePort: One Bright Spark

Instagram: onebrightspark

Website: www.onebrightspark.co.uk 

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