How to Pop Champagne for Photos
Getting That Picture Perfect Bubbly Spray
You’ve probably seen photos for weddings, engagements, or graduation celebrations where someone is popping a bottle of champagne and getting a beautiful fountain of spray. But if you’ve tried to pop a bottle yourself, your results may have been a little lackluster. Fear not! There’s a trick to it. Here are a few tips about taking photos for a great champagne spray.
Which Champagne to Buy
When picking out your bottle, there are no wrong answers as far as effect goes. No matter which brand you pick, you’ll get the same results. However, there are a lot of cost effective options to consider.
On the least expensive end of the spectrum, you can simply buy Sparkling White Grape Juice from Welch’s or something similar. This is a great option especially if you want to buy multiple bottles to try capturing the shot multiple times.
Cook’s is also a good route to go if you’re looking for an inexpensive bottle of sparkling wine to use during your shoot.
If you’re looking to have a more high class look, you can always swap labels on the bottles. If you’d like to capture shots of you actually enjoying the beverage, bring at least one bottle of something you’d actually want to drink.
Another great option is to use sparkling water instead of anything with sugar in it. This is especially great if you’re looking to follow the Leave No Trace principles.
Picking the Right Location
There are a couple things to consider if you know you’re going to do a champagne shot. If this is for graduation or senior photos and you’re looking to do this on campus, check whether or not your campus is considered a “dry campus.” The last thing you want is to be popping bottles and campus security to walk up for a conversation.
Also, champagne and sparkling juice is STICKY. I recommend doing this outdoors in an area that will be fine with sticky stuff on it.
Regardless of where you choose to do this, make sure that you’re retrieving any trash including any corks, caps, and wire cages and leaving nothing behind.
The Secret to Popping Bubbly Like a Boss
Alright, so here’s the step-by-step to getting that fancy champagne fountain shot:
- Open the bottle gently. You can cover the cork with a towel to help catch it as you pull it out, or pick a bottle with a twist top.
- Put your thumb over the bottle opening
- Shake it like a mad man
- Move your thumb so some of the bottle opening is exposed (Think about how you would put your thumb over the garden hose to spray your friends with water)
- Once the spray subsides, cover the hole and shake it up again
That’s all there is to it! I would angle the spray slightly to the side of you. But this should get us some awesome images!
Ready to Start Popping?
Head over to the Contact page and let me know what the occasion is!
