5 top digital photography tips for Halloween – keep it eerie!

Halloween is the perfect opportunity to take creative digital photos of your children and grandchildren. Tell a story. Preserve the memories.

I love using my digital camera (and my iPhone) whenever I get the chance to take photos of the grandchildren. And, of course, not missing a chance to show them off on Facebook.

A resource I received for a review after I published this post is National Geographic Kids Guide to Photography, which I reviewed. The photography guide isn’t just for kids. I found photography tips that helped me, too, for using my digital camera and my iPhone.

With the following 5 top digital photography tips for Halloween a professional photographer recently shared with me to share with you, I can attempt to capture my devil princess, pretty pumpkin, and baby Yoda to make it seem real.

5 Top Digital Photography Tips

[Halloween]

An expert in children’s photography, Linda Russell of Russell Photography, offers 5 digital photography tips for my readers to create lasting Halloween memories:

  1. Utilize available light:  Turn off your flash and use a tripod or even the back of a chair to stabilize your camera and use a slow shutter speed to photograph your child by jack-o-lantern or candle light.
  2. Light your child from below:  For a really “haunting” photo, have them hold a flashlight below their face pointed up.  Under-lighting is sinister and very scary.
  3. Tell a story with your camera:  Start with a “still life” that says “Halloween” (a costume box, a jack-o-lantern, an empty trick or treat bag, etc).  Next,  photograph your child before the transition from suburban student to blood dripping vampire.  Capture the make up, the costume, the process.
  4. Create a portrait of them in costume as if it were real:  A princess on her throne, a cowgirl in front of a barn, or a ghoul in the cemetery.  Engage your child in the fantasy.
  5. Photograph the haul: Every child remembers the special Halloween when the mountain of candy was beyond belief.  Photograph them close up using a wide angle setting.  Fill the frame with candy as well as their joyful expression.