Category: Halloween

Halloween Photo Tricks!

9/8/2009

Halloween Photo Tricks!
Photography Tip for September 2009

Halloween today is a night of make believe for children of all ages, and with carved pumpkins shining brightly, costumes that make you scream or laugh, and trick-or-treating, it's a wonderful opportunity for you to capture the spirit of the holiday with your digital camera.
When you think of Halloween photographs, your visions are probably of fairly dark and spooky images filled with the glowing eyes of jack-o-lanterns and scary faces of dimly lit ghouls and goblins.

Here are some of my favorite tips for shooting in low light.

Flash photography can destroy the mood of these types of photographs unless you can tone the power of your flash way down. To do this, experiment with diffusing your flash by using an on-camera diffuser and combine that with using flash compensation if your camera is equipped with it. You can reduce the power of the flash unit a few stops and get soft diffused light to create more surreal lighting.
Increase your ISO and turn off your flash. The larger the number the darker the lighting conditions can be with your sensor still able to read the subject. The negative aspect of using this method is the increase in grain and noise.
Choose a longer shutter speed to leave the shutter open longer, thus letting in more light from the natural surroundings. This works well with a tripod and subjects like pumpkins which won't move while your shutter is open.
Use the 'fastest' lens in your camera bag or the largest aperture your camera offers. If you have an f/stop of 1.4 to 2.8 on your lens, you will get much better low light photographs than if your largest aperture is f/4 or f/5.6.

Here are some fun tricks for your Halloween bag!
You'll want to do some testing before the big night to become familiar with these methods.

Use colored cellophane on your flash to change the color of the diffused light which can add to the mood of your photograph.
Remember when composing Halloween photographs that you need to keep the feeling of the holiday in the frame, the surroundings are an important addition, but can also be a terrible distraction. Choose carefully what you include in your composition.
When photographing the little ghosts and goblins, you'll get better results if you grab an assistant to shine a flashlight from one side or from below to add spooky light on those great faces and makeup. This can also to help give it a 'ghoulish' feel. Also move in close to your subjects, don't shoot all your photos as head-to-toe portraits, that's a mistake amateurs make. Fill the frame with their head and shoulders, or just their face. If you are photographing a child, kneel down, shoot at their level. Don't tower over them, those shots don't have impact. If they are your kids, plan a photo shoot before Halloween. The kids will love any excuse to get into costume and without trick or treating on the schedule, they will be more relaxed and the quality of your photographs will greatly improve.
Shooting Jack-O-Lanterns is often a fine line between over-exposing and under-exposing. Using two or three candles or a flashlight inside the pumpkin will reduce the chance for deep shadows. This is a perfect example of a photography session where you should bracket your exposures. The more photographs you take with different exposures, the better your chances of having a truly perfect exposure. Be sure to get in close so that your light meter reads the pumpkin and not all the black or light that surrounds it.
Beware of camera shake. When using a tripod, use a cable release, or for those of you, who don't have one, get to know your camera's self-timer mode. These two choices will help you avoid camera shake which can ruin a great photograph.

Here are some more great ideas to keep in mind when capturing Halloween moments and making the most of the holiday!

Create the story of Halloween that goes along with the costume. Get photographs of the kids getting their make-up applied and getting into character to tell the whole story of your Halloween.
Ask those in costume to act the part! Get their best expressions and body language to make the moment come alive.
Photograph the ghouls against the twilight sky for a cool silhouette or let their faces be lit only by the glow of a pumpkin.
Create ghostly images! With the camera on a tripod, set your shutter speed to 8 or 15 seconds. Have someone sit or stand in the photo for 5 seconds, then walk away or have them move slowly throughout the photograph during the exposure. This creates a nearly transparent image which looks like a ghost. Practice with this, it can be fun!

Where to go to take great Halloween photos?

Pumpkin patches are great! Free admission and you can get some great pictures there. Caution on taking photographs of other people and their children. You can't use these photographs for anything without their release, so don't bother taking them without permission.
Look for black iron fences, cemeteries and old neighborhoods. Old gravestones always add an eerie effect.
During the daytime look around your neighborhood for homes that have great decorations. Approach those neighbors and seek permission to come back that evening as twilight sets to take some photographs. As compensation, you can offer to give them digital copies on a CD for their own scrapbook.
Use yellow or green light bulbs in fixtures to change the mood.
If you or someone you know has large trees in their yard or a natural habitat, both can be spooky in the right light. Corn fields and tall grasses also make great additions to the mood if taken in low light.

Trick or Treat!

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Resources
for Photographers & Designers

Happy Halloween!

Trick Or Treat

Spooktacular inspiration

Halloween Photo Tricks!

Resources

Categories

My favorite
Resource Sites

Salon of Art
on Red bubble

Find Us on
amazon.com!

Resourcesfor Photographers & Designers

Happy Halloween!

Trick Or Treat

Spooktacular inspiration

Halloween Photo Tricks!

Resources

Categories

My favoriteResource Sites

Salon of Arton Red bubble

Find Us onamazon.com!

Resources
for Photographers & Designers

My favorite
Resource Sites

Salon of Art
on Red bubble

Find Us on
amazon.com!