In honor of last night’s Halloween event I have a few easy photo tips for capturing your Halloween Character! First off, thank you to the families who came. I just love seeing all the kids dressed up in costume together, and their moms excited about capturing them! I can’t wait to see how these moms use the lessons to better photograph their kids this year.
The biggest thing I tried to stress last night was for moms to photograph their kids before (or after) Halloween. Trying to fit in a mini photo shoot before a party or going out trick-or-treating only leads to frustrations for everyone.
The second of the photo tips for capturing your Halloween character is for those of you not yet shooting in manual.
Set your camera to AV (or A on Nikon) mode. This allows you to be in control of your aperture (think blurry, buttery background) while the camera choses the rest of the settings. Once in AV mode, select the lowest number your aperture will go. It may be anywhere from 1.4-5.6 depending on the lens you’re using. If you’re shooting with a point and shoot, select the Portrait setting. This will often have a picture of a face as it’s icon.
Consider your location and your child’s character. While we can’t take our Darth Vader to the Death Start for a photo shoot, you can at least find a better location then in the middle of your living room with toys scattered everywhere (shhh…now you know what my living room looks like!). If your daughter is Tinker Bell, maybe you take her to a field or just on the outskirts of the woods. Oftentimes, just having a plain background that doesn’t distract does just the trick. An empty parking lot or a sidewalk/driveway are favorite spots of mine as they both reflect light and blur out nicely. For the Halloween event, we took photos in my carport.
Capture the Details. There are so many great details when our kids are in costume! Don’t be afraid to photograph the back of your child! This fireman’s costume had the local fire department on it, a detail that makes it even more special.
If your child won’t wear all of their costume, photograph that! This young man is just as precious in his tiger costume without the hood. It is just another detail for your Halloween this year.
Let them act out. Kids cooperate much more if they get to have fun with it. And part of the fun is that they are dressed up as someone else that they love. So let them pretend. If they are an animal, let them roar, jump, leap, just be an animal! If they have a sword, let them swing it. This is where you can capture the true character!
Invite a friend (or sibling) along. One of these little fairies was a little shy for her photos, but as soon as her friend came along they were too little hams. I loved watching them play together in costume, checking out each other’s wings and outfits. Way too sweet!
And if you’re like my family, there’s nothing much more fun then dressing up the kids in a theme! This family was no different. Every fireman needs his trusty Dalmatian. Isn’t this too cute?! Capture the kids together to show how your theme for the year.
Now it’s your turn. Go have fun with these photo tips for capturing your Halloween character! I can’t wait to see what you capture!
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