My first attempt at this involved a lot of glitter, but it wasn't to be. That stuff is nasty. Then when rummaging the drawers, I found some sparklers left over from Guy Fawkes night from last year! The above idea then formed.

The background was crumpled up tinfoil, spread flat with a flashgun pointed directly at it. I put a cooling gel on the flash to make the sparkler warmth stick out more. I had another flash above my hand pointing down, to give the illusion of the light coming from the sparkler.

Obviously, I can't make sparks materialise out of nothing, so this is where some parlour tricks were employed! I shot a sparkler against a dark background and added it as a "Lighten" layer in photoshop. With a bit of a size and position adjustment, et voila! I think this came out well, it certainly is what appeared in my head anyway. Also, apparently, I am no hand model.