Falling leaves, glowing pumpkins, adorable costumes, impressive makeup, and creepy decorations–these are a few of our favorite things to see on Halloween night (and candy – lots and lots of candy!).
All Hallow’s Eve truly is a mystical night where anything can happen and reality is temporarily suspended. With all the ghouls, goblins, and ghosts roaming the earth, you’ll want to keep your camera ready so you can capture every spooktacular moment. Check out the following four tricks to use when you’re ready to snap those Halloween photos:
Trick #1: Don’t be afraid of the dark
Since Halloween is typically celebrated after the sun goes down, lighting can be a tricky thing to get right with your photos. If you want to use flash, just remember it may wash out your subject. Or you might end up with some eerie looking orbs floating around your photos (don’t worry, those orbs are just dust).
If you’re feeling brave and want to take photos without flash, try bumping up your ISO. Opening the ISO to 400 or higher will increase the camera’s ability to absorb light, which will catch the flickering light of candles or the red glow of a haunted house.
Trick #2: Get creative during editing
The photos you take can be just as creative as the costumes or decorations you see—and sometimes may even enhance the effects of both. Play with your camera settings–especially making use of your timer–to create some scary special effects.
You can also alter the photos later on in Photoshop to make the kids look like they’re floating or disappearing. The sky’s the limit!
Trick #3: Don’t miss a moment
The whole night will go by in a flash. You can capture every fast-paced moment by adjusting these two settings:
- Shutter Speed: Is Batman running full speed from house to house? Slow down your shutter speed to catch him, and his fantastic costume, in action.
- Burst: If you’re having trouble taking a photo of that ghost before it disappears, then using burst on your camera can help. Burst can rapidly take up to 10 pictures per second (depending on the camera) and one of those pictures is bound to prove to your friends that you really did see that specter in the haunted house.
Trick #4: Play the part
To really show off those costumes, have your friends or children get into character with their poses. A photo of your Ninja Turtle trying a kungfu kick or Elsa playing with a snowman will capture a moment of magic you can look back on for years to come.
After all those tricks, we thought we should also include an idea for a neat treat:
Do you have vintage Halloween photos of your parents or grandparents? If you send them to us for photo scanning now, we could have them ready for you to share just in time for Halloween. Posting old photos to social media pages is a sure-fire way to get a ton of likes, comments, and trips down memory lane.
Plus, who knows? Maybe seeing what people wore years ago for All Hallow’s Eve could be the inspiration for some unique modern day costumes.
