Five Tips for Taking Haunting Halloween Photos

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Five Tips for Taking Haunting Halloween Photos

	Get in touch with your inner ghoul! These five easy tips will help you take terrific photos of all the Halloween fun. The following tips offer some easy ways your photography can capture the colors of fall:
	Capture the Transformation To record the transformation of a normal kid into a paranormal phenomenon, try taking a series of photos during the makeup process. You'll want to find a comfortable position in front of your trick-or-treater, or off to the side at a 45-degree angle. Zoom in on your subject's hands and face while they apply paint, glitter, false eyelashes or gory prosthetics. (If a friend or parent is doing the honors, be sure to include both participants in the picture.) Set your camera lens to "Macro" mode for sharp close-ups, and support the camera on a tripod or other steady surface to prevent image blur. Start with the naked face and take at least a half dozen pictures as your subject takes on a new persona. Vary your shots between close-up framing (head and shoulders or face shots) and waist-up composition - changing the lens magnification from normal to macro, depending on your distance from the subject. Be sure to get a final portrait (in a more open setting) to show off the complete finished product.
	Ham It Up! Before your trick-or-treaters head off in pursuit of candy, be sure to take individual and group photos of everyone in their costumes. For these shots, you'll want to use your flash to record as much detail as possible and freeze any body motion. Make sure to encourage your subjects to ham it up, demonstrating for the camera whatever special abilities or supernatural powers they may possess. This is one time when head-to-toe composition is recommended, but be sure not to allow too much space around your subjects - you still want to be able to see their faces. You can also take some close-ups at different angles to add a graphic element to your portrait series.
	Remember the Pumpkins Pumpkin carving, like face painting, is a great opportunity to tell a story with a series of shots. Once the carving is done, you can capture the flickering lights and shadows that make Halloween pumpkins so special. The key is to use only natural light and to experiment with composition and exposure. Take a few pictures while it's still light outside, so you can record the color and detail of the outer skin, then take more photos as it grows dark. You can surround your jack-o-lantern with a bed of straw or some colorful fall leaves to enhance the composition - just make sure you remove any fire hazards before leaving the pumpkin unattended!
	Catch Them in the Act! If you intend to surprise and terrify your Halloween guests with creaking coffins, hatchet-wielding escapees from the local lunatic asylum, or other fiendish figments of your imagination, why not capture their horrified reactions on camera? Set up your camera on a tripod, positioning it far enough from the action to cover the entire scene. Having the lens set on wide-angle mode will cover the maximum image area and provide the greatest depth of field for sharp, in-focus images. (Take some practice shots before the event, to make sure your camera is properly positioned.) Place the flash on "Forced Flash" or "Flash On" mode so it will automatically activate with every exposure. Many digital cameras come equipped with a remote control. Conceal it in your hand so that you can trigger the exposure at just the right moment. If your camera doesn't have a remote control, you can hide behind the camera cloaked in black.
	Add Some Flickering Candlelight A jack o' lantern illuminated from within by candlelight makes for a particularly beautiful Halloween photo. If you're shooting up close in low light, you'll have a limited depth of field, causing part of the pumpkin (or other subject) to be out of focus. Make sure you use a tripod to keep the camera steady, and set your camera on "Aperture Priority" mode. Pick the smallest lens opening your camera allows (the larger the f-number, such as f/11 or f/22, the smaller the lens opening and the more depth of field). The camera will automatically pick a longer exposure time to compensate for the reduced light. Long exposures will enhance your pumpkin portrait, because they'll amplify the glow of the light coming through the carved openings. And if the candle flame is visible through the eyes or mouth, a longer exposure (at least 1/30 second) will record its movement as it flickers. For more tips on digital photography, visit www.imaging-resource.com.