Tips to take Scary Pictures this Halloween

Halloween is right around the corner! It is the perfect opportunity to capture all those scary events with simple photography tips. This time one for which you probably already have all the stuff at home, so take a look! Today we will give you three great photo ideas to make the most beautiful Halloween photo in a spooky atmosphere.

Smoke

Smoke adds something mysterious to your photos. Fortunately, you don't need much: smoke, a dark background and a (report) flash.

As the smoke dissipates quickly and too much smoke creates a gray haze. This allows your model to literally disappear into the smoke. It is therefore wise not to have a continuous flow of smoke. A smoke machine that you can switch on and off is more convenient. Don't have a smoke machine at your disposal? Then you can also create your own smoke. Make sure you always use short smoking sessions to shoot your desired photo.

Dark background

Smoke is light in color. A dark background increases the contrast between the background and the smoke. This makes the smoke more visible in your photos. For example, hang a dark cloth on the wall or shoot outdoors in a low-light environment with few disturbing objects in the background.

Flash

Since you want to freeze the smoke, you need a fast shutter speed. This requires additional lighting. The easiest option is to use a studio to add extra light to your photo. Preference is given to a reporting flash that you manually set to the lowest flash setting. Other options are a studio flash (gives a larger amount of light) or a strong construction lamp. Place the light source diagonally in front of or next to the model. Make sure your light source doesn't illuminate the background.

To work

Focus manually, so the smoke can't cause confusion while focusing. With manual focus, it is useful to work with a tripod not to let your model move too much. Smoke photos have to be timed correctly. Therefore, keep in mind that the model does not disappear in the smoke, or that there is smoke in front of the face. Turn off the smoke machine or wait a while before taking another photo.

Ghosts

A nice effect is to make a ghost of your model. All you need for this is a slow shutter speed of, for example, 6 or 8 seconds and a tripod.

Long shutter speed

Set a slow shutter speed and place your camera on a tripod. Open the shutter and let the model change position, position and facial expression after every 2 seconds. For example, if you use a shutter speed of 6 seconds and change position 3x, you will see a vague shadow of the model 3x.

What you can also do is assume the ghost pose for the first two seconds, and stand normal for the remaining seconds. This way you get one shadow next to a normally exposed photo. You can vary endlessly with this. Keep practicing for the right settings for your desired result.

Self portrait

A ghost photo is ideal for taking as a self-portrait. The camera is already on a tripod. Now set your camera to self-timer and stand in front of the camera. Apply the technique as soon as the shutter opens.

Creative Exposures

Taking photos at your child's eye level can make a big difference. According to Tracey Osterman Photographers , the lighting doesn't have to be perfect for a creepy photo. It actually adds more atmosphere if you work with creative lighting. Think of hard shadows or a color filter.

Shadow

Where you normally want to avoid hard shadows and prefer to photograph portraits with soft light, it is fun to add shadows for a creepy photo.

Color Gel

Various colored gels are available for reporting flashes. You attach this over your flash to give a color to your light. Don't have this? Then you can of course look for colored alternatives such as plastic. Of course you can also get started during post-processing to add color gradients to your photo.

Low Key

For a dark atmosphere, you can easily create a black background even in a colorful room. Here you need an external flash on a tripod. First, set the exposure of your camera so that your entire photo is black (underexposed). Make sure that your shutter speed does not go faster than your maximum flash speed. Then turn on the flash to add light to your photo.