11 Halloween Photography Tips

With Halloween just around the corner, the cameras are certainly going to be flashing away with all the amazing pictures you will be taking of your children in their costumes to the amazing house decorated on 5th street. Years before your photos just ended up looking a little less then amazing, so this year you are bound and determined to capture those precious memories with some "professional" style. I am here to share some of my tips on how to achieve great Halloween photos this year.

Photo Tip One: Finding A Point of Interest
Make sure you know what the focal point is of your picture. The focal point will need to be the attention holder of the photo. The item or person you will see first when looking at the picture. Once you have determined the focal point make sure it is absolutely perfect. It may be hard to achieve that with children, but my advice is to pick the older child, place him in the middle of the other children, standing tall and then tell him to "BE STILL" and keep smiling. His steadiness will make him the focal point.

Photo Tip Two: Filling In Your Frame
To add that added punch to your photos make sure you fill in as much as possible into the picture. To achieve a nice tight shot with people is to make sure you add as many as your frame will allow. To fill in your frame with an object(s) the best way is to zoom into the object(s) closer so you can remove any excess blank background.

Photo Tip Three: Create New Angles
Did that pumpkin you shot last year look like the same one you took a picture of three years ago and then some? It's hard to make a picture of an object that plain stand out, but if you try to create different angles to take the pictures from you should not have a problem getting that pumpkin (or any other object) to stand out in a way it never has before.

Photo Tip Four: Candid Shots
The best way to get a photo shot of a person or multiple people is to catch them off guard. Do some of your photos when people are not looking directly into the camera. Have them talk to one another, playing with a pumpkin or putting on their costume. When you have them look directly into the camera you more then likely will get the "deer in headlights" look. However, with a motion shot they will not have to worry about looking "just right".

Photo Tip Five: No Flash
Sometimes the flash will cause red eyes or one point of interest to be more brighter then the other parts of the photo. Either set your flash to outdoors setting, or kill the flash completely. If you still need a flash, say you are in a dark setting and have to have a flash to pick up on the objects try to diffuse the flash with a cellophane.

Photo Tip Six: Black And White
When going to print out your pictures, instead of doing them all in color, get a few done in black and white coloring. I know at www.walgreens.com their photo workshop allows you to create this before getting the picture developed. It gives your pictures a classic look and they become timeless.

Photo Tip Seven: Light From Below
When we just snap a photo, we usually capture the light from over head either with the sun or with a lamp light. This way is always predictable. To create a spooky, Halloween feel to your picture place light on your objects from below. When you are working with people have a flashlight put off light from below their faces. When you are shooting a picture on an object like a pumpkin you can use a glow-stick to cast off the glow from the bottom of the pumpkin.

Photo Tip Eight: Creating The Red Eye
Contrary to what I have said about losing the red eye look in Tip Five, sometimes a red eye photo for Halloween is much needed to create the devilish Halloween look. If you want the person in your picture to have the "devil eyes" to enhance their costume then make sure the room is completely dark and have their eyes as wide open as they possibly can. With this process you will most definitely use your flash!

Photo Tip Nine: Shutter Speed
Try to delay your shutter speed. Either by setting it for 2 seconds or creating multiple shutter pictures like one right after another.

Photo Tip Ten: Bend Your Knees
Not every picture you take will be at your eye level. Your children may not be the same height as you are and that pumpkin sitting on the ground is not at your eye level. To get a great picture create the point of interest at your eye level by either bending down or even laying down on the ground.

Photo Tip Eleven: Have Fun
Halloween is the time of fun and pretend, so make sure you have fun while you are capturing these lifelong memories. Relax and don't expect every shot to be perfect. Sometimes the best photos come from the "oops" moments that you wish didn't happen. Also try to do these tips the night before Halloween or a couple days before. If you practice at taking your Halloween pictures then when Halloween day rolls around you will be ready to snap away like a professional!