How to Capture Halloween Costumes

It’s almost Halloween! Can you believe how fast this year has gone by!? I am hoping that even with Covid-19 virus we will still have some kind of Halloween celebration.  It is not my favorite holiday, but it’s close! I love this time of year.  The leaves and the weather getting colder!  I love most everything about fall, but I do not care for pumpkin spice everything.  I’m happy with just normal coffee, ha! So here are some things to consider when photographing those Halloween costumes. 

1.       Set the Stage

Consider the costume itself! What setting should it be in? Is there something you can add to make the photograph extra special? For the sleeping beauty photo below, I used flower petals and a soft pillow to set the stage (so to speak).  When my daughter was Mary Poppins, I let her borrow my umbrella and let her play out the character!  It is so much fun to capture the costume in a way that speaks to the character they are playing. Hopefully, you have practiced the make up and have a plan for props! Sometimes it’s just one prop that can make all the difference.

2.       Edit for Magic

Photoshop can really add magic to the photo.  Use it to help the scene!  You can use a glitter overlay like I did when my kid was Belle. This overlay is from Jessica Drossin.  Or you can edit the eyes out to make your ghost look extra creepy! For a Harry Potter costume consider adding a lightning bolt, or a smoke overlay for a witch!  Maybe do a composite, or make your subject levitate.  I have a tutorial here on how to do a levitation photo. The possibilities really are endless for a good photoshop edit! This is a really good time to start experimenting.

3.       Capture their Personalities

Make sure to document the way they laugh or their favorite part of the costume, or how much candy they got that year.  It might be a good idea to try to do pictures ahead of time too!  That way you have plenty of time for trick or treating. Don’t forget to capture those details!

Whatever you do, make sure to document these moments! It’s so fun to look back at previous years.  For more Halloween inspiration check out Kellie Bieser.  She is the master at capturing Halloween costumes!

Thanks for reading!

Treasure Hunting

So, I went to a garage sale at a used photography store in Indianapolis.  It was pretty fun! They had lots of things that I am not well educated on, and lots of things I did not recognize.  Lots of old film cameras. I regret not picking one of those up just to try out.  But at least if I have the need to use film, I have my Diana F Lomography camera.  Ooo, maybe I will use that soon and blog about it! Anyhow, I did pick up a couple of old lenses.  The first one is a Hanimex 28mm f2.8 lens.  It is not a fancy lens.  In fact, it is credited with being the worst lens ever! Hanimex was an Australian distributor that produced several lens mounts to many different camera systems around the 60’s or 70’s.  (The time was a tough one to find so take that with a grain of salt.) But I wanted something that I could freelens with that would be super cheap. I have found that when you close down the aperture you get a really fun hexagonal lens flare! It’s a manual lens which is good, so that I don’t have to tape open the shutter when freelensing.  (Which you have to with Nikon lenses as the shutter is usually automatically closed on an automatic lens.)  So worst lens ever? Meh! I like it to get me out of a creative slump.  Sometimes just trying something new can help me get into a more creative mind set. 

I also got a Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm Macro lens. It is also known as the “stovepipe” due to its long profile with a wide front end.  Makes perfect sense.  It really does look like a stovepipe, and it is heavy!
This one is kind of in rough shape.  The aperture gets stuck, and I end up having to completely guess on my exposure.  I might have to take it apart and see if I can repair it.  It was not costly, so it is very low risk working on it. It also has a fun lens flare.  You can see in my photos that there are several little orbs.  So, this was a fun experiment as well!   

These two lenses are very different from what I have! I just thought I would share some of my fun experimentation’s with them.  Do you have any vintage lenses? Feel free to share some photos with me if you do!  

Thanks for reading.  

Early Morning Family photos At Muscatatuck Wild Life Refuge

So it was early in the morning and the weather was perfect!! No Really. It was perfect. It had been soooo hot the week before, even in the morning. But this special morning the temperature was in the high 60’s low 70’s. And you guys, I cannot say enough good things about this family. They are so sweet!! They drove out of their way to come and get their pictures done, and it was such a treat! Being from Missouri they trusted me with the location. They are the type of people that are just seem so laid back. Billie is a photographer as well, so that’s like a super honor for another photographer to trust you with their own family photos. Hope you enjoy these!

Thanks for looking!!