Tips for taking Spooktacular photos this season

Halloween is such an enjoyable and fun time of the year for photography. From scary Halloween costumes, to trick-or-treating and a number of different types of scenery, you want to take you Halloween photoshoot to the next level. With some Halloween photo tips, taking great photos of your jack-o-lantern or your pumpkin patch should come second nature to you.

Imagine having that great camera, whether it be a DSLR or point and shoot camera, you could have an easy time capturing great Halloween photos. Showing off those spooky photos will leave your family and friends wondering how you get such great photos. Say it’s harsher lighting conditions like rougher ambient light from streetlights and porch lights or low light found in the evening when trick or treating, how to handle this?

Whether you are photography beginner, hobbyist or even a professional Vlogger and content creator, Halloween can make for the perfect time to show off a great Vlog session. Detail your spooky Halloween and upload it to your social media site of choice. With the proper camera settings, your subscribers will love the creative content that will shine through in your exposure.

Setting up your camera correctly is also crucial to getting better photos. From a slow shutter speed giving that motion blur which will add to the spookiness of fast moving scenes to having your ISO and aperture set for the scene in which you are shooting. You may want a faster shutter speed to get those detailed and sharp exposures, especially if you are a shooting portrait photography such as your family all huddled together decked out in their Halloween costumes.

So how do you get those Spooktacular pics this Halloween? Let’s explore some different Halloween photography tips and items that will get you better Halloween pictures.

Location/Scene

One of the first things to do is set up the scene of which you wish to shoot those great photos or video recording of.

1. Try getting together a spooky scene for Halloween photoshoot. Think abandoned buildings or even city lined street photography detailing all the scary Halloween related stuff.

2. Some of these may include houses and trees covered in spiderwebs or a front lawn with goblins and ghosts. These will help in keeping your photos and video recordings with the Halloween theme.

3. If you are planning a portrait photography session, of say your family before heading out to a great night of trick or treating, make sure that your light source is good. Adjust your flash as needed to augment the lighting.

4. Think about trying a light diffuser. The material found on those are light and soft, making for great abstract silhouettes. This will help set up that spooky scene by making all of your exposures very Halloween oriented.

5. As we previously mentioned if you are shooting a typical Halloween scene such as a spooky pumpkin patch (with a complimentary scarecrow), try popping in a smoke bomb into a jack-o-lantern. Smoke bombs can be found in a variety of emitting colors and will add to the overall spookiness of Halloween. Imagine capturing the fright and delight of families out trick-or-treating and some scary dark smoke just plumes out of your jack-o-lantern.

6. Try shooting your Halloween photography during the Blue Hour for a haunting effect. The Blue Hour is right before sunrise and right after sunset. This will give an additional spooky effect to your exposures.

   

Camera Settings

Having the right camera settings is a necessary part of all photography and Halloween photoshoots are no different. What type of presets are right for this time of the year.

1. Set your camera to a slow shutter speed for a long exposure. Because you will be shooting photography and videos during low light conditions in the night, using a slow shutter speed will allow for more light to enter the frame. Very helpful for All Hallows Eve.

2. When there is a lack of natural light or ambient light, you may have to add some additional lighting sources for for a more detailed and sharp exposure.

3. You camera flash alone may not provide for a light source when ambient light is not available as the light emitting from the camera flash will usually start to dissipate after 10-15 feet from your subject or object.

4. Set your camera to shoot some fantastic black and white scenes. The chilling and spooky effect from this is perfect for Halloween.

5. You can set the white balance on the camera to several different presets such as auto, daylight, cloudy and custom settings as well. Use a preset for the white balance needed for your lighting conditions. Setting this to Auto may help.

6. Use a high ISO when shooting at night. An ISO of about 1600 is usually the max ISO you will get before any noise degradation of exposure is visible.

7. Shoot in manual mode. While we all love the ease of use of autofocus, especially with the advanced technology found in cameras today, manual mode will give you more control over the different camera settings and adjust them according to your scene.

   

Cameras and Lens

Having the right camera and lens is going to make all the difference in your photography. We have compiled a list of some of those items which will make your Halloween photos all that much more memorable.

• The Nikon Z5 Full Frame Mirrorless Camera Body FX 4K UHD + 24-50mm f/4-6.3 Lens Kit is a great camera to get your Halloween off on the right foot. Some of the amazing features offered by this camera are as follows:

  • With the ability to shoot 24.3 million effective pixels you can expect sharp and clear better photos this Halloween.

  • This camera can works with Nikon’s Z mounting system and can be used with all of the amazing Z mount lenses from Nikon including those from their premier NIKKOR S line of lenses.

  • Using an adapter you can then mount lenses from other manufacturers such as Canon.

  • Take gorgeous 4K UHD videos in 30FPS or Full HD 1920x1080p in 60FPS.

  • An ultra high resolution OLED EVF or Electronic Viewfinder is also on this camera, making for shooting in different angles easier.

  • USB-C PD or Power Delivery is also available so you can easily charge the camera from a power bank when on the go.

  • Try using photoshop or post processing editing in the SnapBridge app from Nikon available on your iOS or Android device.

• The Sony ZV-1 Compact Digital Vlogging 4K Camera for Content Creators & Vloggers is a vlogging camera which would be perfect for a great spooky Halloween Vlog.

  • Designed for Vloggers and content creators this pocket sized ergonomic lightweight camera is perfect for those travelling Vlogging sessions.

  • Weighing in at approximately 10.4 oz, this will make a great camera for capturing a great Vlog following trick or treaters around.

  • The back illuminated Exmor RS CMOS sensor and Bionz X image processing system found in this Sony camera powers the 20.1 million effective pixel readout and produces beautiful still images and videos recorded in 4K.

  • The included 24-70mm1 F1.8-2.8 ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T lens uses two (Advanced Aspherical) lens elements simultaneously. This advanced optical tech can reach a fully open F1.8-2.8 aperture. So you can shoot your stills, videos or even selfies with a defocused background Bokeh effect.

  • Wi-Fi on the long range 2.4 Ghz band is present as well as bluetooth 4.1. So connectivity for uploading your Halloween Vlog is a few clicks away.

• The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 Instant Camera is perfect instant camera that will surely compliment your photography sessions this season.

  • This camera is great for selfies. Use the included selfie mirror and the flash will make the necessary adjustments on it’s own to get the right amount of light in your exposure. This is great for the typical low light conditions of photography on Halloween.

  • The shutter speed and other settings will adjust to the ambient light in your scene automatically.

  • Besides for it’s features, the overall design of the Fujifim Instax Mini 12 makes for a unique, comfortable and fun shooting experience to share with your friends and family this season.

• For you Portrait Photography enthusiasts this Halloween season, check out the Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD All-In-One Zoom Lens for Canon Mount.

  • This is the world's first 22.2x ultra-telephoto all-in-one zoom lens for all your shooting scene needs.

  • Take your images in a wide angle or super telephoto this lens will handle portrait photography as well as shooting city landscapes with a beautiful exposure.

  • Loaded with the VC (Vibration Compensation) system, a proprietary technology from Tamron, will help reduce and even eliminate camera shake under low light conditions. Perfect for those nighttime Halloween handheld shots.

  • All in all a great lens with advanced features at an affordable price point.

    

Final Thoughts

Halloween can be a holiday of fun and family time. Why not photograph these events to create memorable moments this season. Try utilizing the Halloween photography tips provided and grab one or more of the cameras or lenses recommended.

Happy Halloween!!