Every Day Is Halloween | by Aimee Garrity
Embracing the Spooky, Creative Side of Photography
When I was asked about writing a blog on Halloween photography, it was an easy yes! Because every day is Halloween, isn’t it? Well, for people like me, it’s not just a holiday, it’s a lifestyle, a persona, a vibe.
Yes, I was the goth in high school that just never let it go. For three Halloween seasons, I was an actor in a million-dollar haunted stadium/arena walk-through production and worked almost 80 hours a week between that and my full-time job for six weeks, and it was the time of my life! One of those years, I was eight months pregnant, another I lived in a strobe light room for hours! I have a vampire obsession and enjoy horror films and all things most people find creepy, except dolls— you can keep them! To this day, I still dress up and celebrate; I even have specially made fangs just for me!
Be anyone or anything you want!
This time of year is so much fun; many of you are still lucky enough to have little ones that get to be anything they want. Boy, do I miss those days. That’s part of the joy for me, being able to dress how you want, step into a character you’d love to be without raising a brow. Halloween allows you to be creative; it allows people to enter the wonderful world of make-believe. Monsters, superheroes, movie characters, princes & princesses, animals, mystical creatures, so many comedic options, and the list goes on. So what will you or your kids be this Halloween?
Capturing Halloween
Not everyone enjoys the creepy and scary side of Halloween or spooky photography, and that’s okay. There are so many halloween photoshoot ideas where you can still “capture Halloween”. Photos of home décor, lawn decorations, abandoned locations, creepy forest vibes, jack-o-lanterns, spiders, bats, people, kids, and pets in costumes, staged photo shoots, baked goods, and the list goes on. Smoke bombs and fog machines can also add to the fun.
Find your stars
For me, I love recreating movie scenes. The hardest part sometimes is finding willing participants. I have been lucky enough to have my family willing to play along with my crazy ideas. Honestly, I think my husband only likes to play along if he gets to wear a mask.Do you have a favorite horror movie? If you can find friends, go get some costumes or maybe ones you already have or could borrow and create the scene. For these types of photos, I usually envision what I want it to look like, then have to figure out how to create it, which can sometimes be challenging. Sometimes you need that tight hallway, the woods, an abandoned location, an empty room, a stairwell, a pool, etc.But you don’t have to create movie ideas; I have seen some amazing sheet-covered ghost photos, or black clothes with carved pumpkins on your head. Really good at makeup? Get creative, get spooky, and go for it. Still have those goth clothes lying around? Break them out and get back in the mood.
Get Digitally Creative: Composite Fun
For those of you that are handy with Photoshop and playing with layers, overlays, textures, liquify, etc., this is your time to shine!
Can’t access the background you want? Find a free digital background and blend your subject into it. Need some bats, smoke, fog, blood, etc.?Get some overlays, add, and blend them in. Need some vintage wallpaper on your boring walls? Find some textures and add them to the wall and blend. Need your subject at a different height or position? Find a small stool or bench and heal and/or clone stamp it out or copy just your subject in position and paste it onto your started work. Add a texture to the whole image to give it a different feel and adjust the opacity. Add a solid color to your image and adjust your blend mode and opacity. Layer on and off as you desire. Play with liquify on your subject, make the eyes bigger, extend nails and teeth pointy, adjust hair, etc.With Photoshop, the options are endless; don’t be afraid to play around; you never know what new fun you’ll find. Most of my movie scenes are a blend of my own photos with all of the above.
There are many times no one wants to play, but I want to create. There are plenty of stock model photos you can use for practice or to create that piece.
However you choose to celebrate, I know I will love it, simply because you share in my love of all things Halloween! Happy Halloween!
