Happy Halloween 2018.  This special article is dedicated to folks who want to enjoy their own photography. Sterling brings you some photo tips, tricks  and treats to extend camera enjoyment of any time.   To us a blog means more than just a place to showcase our own services and products.  We have proven that previously with features designed for the bride, just to help her plan items like her dress and her flowers as well as images of her wedding.  Likewise, we want today’s blog to be special. We want you to have a Happy, Healthy, and Safe Halloween–and a little fun with your camera.

Spooky Tricks From Sterling Photography International For Halloween 2018

Sterling Photography International thought you’d like some photographic tricks and treats to help you make some magical photo shots with family and friends.  Costumes will greatly enhance these tricks and the easiest Photo Shop can also help.

Treat 1 for Photographers:  Welcome Halloween 2018–The Ghost Trick

Shooting a long exposure is an easy way to invite a ghost to your Halloween party. Yes, you can conjure a magical Halloween Spirit or two,

Halloween 2018 brings you easy photo tips for shots like these.

Three ghosts drift in front of old house with red lights . Learn the tricks by reading the steps in this blog.

with no Photoshop required.

  1. Get a friend to dress appropriately
  2. To shoot a “ghost” choose your scene – A dark one is best, but if you know how to use neutral density filters, they will remove light.
  3. The Tripod is a Necessity for Catching Ghosts.
  4. Put your camera up on a tripod or steady surface.
  5. Set it to shutter priority mode.
  6. The secret to creating a ghost is a long shutter speed.  We want 30 seconds at least.
  7. Everything in your scene that stays still will look solid and normal, as long as it doesn’t move. Select furniture and props that show off the mood of the photo. Just how spooky are you going to get?
  8. Here’s the secret: Anything –or anyone that moves through the shot will look transparent. Dreamy moves work best. That’s the ghost-like quality you want.
  9. Thus for the time the while the camera is recording that 30-plus-second shot, have your model, dressed as a ghost, spirit or time period person, move through the scene. This will create the ghost. Experiment with different props to create the look you are after.

 Floating in Thin Air for Halloween 2018:  The Levitation Act

Alas, you must use a photo editing software to do this one, and it is worth the effort. It’s just plain creepy. But don’t let Photoshop scare you, there are plenty of simple photo editing programs out there for you.

The Halloween 2018 Floater

This is so easy you won’t believe it!

  1. First set up your little scene. Shoot it without your model or objects you want to float.

    Halloween 2018 brings ample opportunity to use the magic of your photography.

    After Erasing the Stools That Held Her Up, Our Model is Ready to Float Out the Window To a Halloween Party

  2. Add a step stool or two, your ghost model or any objects you want to float. Shoot the Scene with Your Model.  You must Keep the scene identical. Shoot from an identical angle, and use identical settings. But adding the step stool or two on which you place the object or person to float will make the creepy shot come to life. Shoot the scene again. (Actually this will be the shot no one sees, until after Photoshop.)
  3. Go to your Photoshop program and pick out your clone stamp. With it you can remove the stool(s.) The clone stamp will erase the stool for you Thus for Halloween 2018, your subject or model will appear to float in the scene.
  1. By using the clone stamp tool (in Photoshop, it looks like a stamp in the toolbar), you can remove the object that the subjects are standing on, making them appear to float in thin air.

Our friends at Digital Trends Add Pointers

Digital Trends adds, “For more realistic levitation photos, enlist the help of a friend to hold any lightweight items, making them look like gravity is pulling down on them — like holding out the edge of a dress.

Keep in mind, you will have to Photoshop that friend out too  So such an assistant would also be cloned or “erased,” like a stool leg, out of the picture. Don’t worry, it’s fast and easy to master the cloning tool. And it erases while it clones in appropriate background. You will love the effect.

Once again, the owner and staff at Sterling Photography International

The Flash Ghost

Another famous Halloween Shot is the flash ghost.  We can study Slow-sync flash in the camera Manual.  The camera flash also helps freeze action.

Check out this floating trick for Halloween 2018

Ghost Girl Floats Down the Stairs

  1. Slow-sync flash fires during only part of the exposure — if you use slow-sync flash to shoot motion, part of that motion will be blurred and rather ghoulish.
  2. Save it for the Dance Floor: This method works particularly well on a dance floor, if you happen to be headed to a costume party.
  3. Choose the model moving subject to shoot. Go the camera’s flash modes.
  4. Rear-curtain slow sync will create the ghostly figure behind the subject, while front-curtain creates the figure in the direction the action is headed.
  5. This goes without saying you will need your tripod. Otherwise the background will also blur.
  6. Set your camera up with a slow shutter speed — you may need to experiment based on how fast your subject is moving — and, with your flash set to slow sync, fire away. Multiple shadows, multiple directions! Spooky fun for Halloween 2018 dancers.

 Portraits that Document 2018 Halloween Scene are also Great Treats

Okay, enough of the spooky horror show!  Perhaps you just would like to document the dressing up for friends and kids.

Sterling’s Tips for Basic Portrait Camera Fun Halloween 2018

1.Start Early:

We want you to get all your details of costume , makeup and props, so begin at least an hour before sunset.  Halloween photos are difficult primarily because you must shoot in the dark and flash ruins most effects of the dark.

Shooting in the dark is the trickiest part of getting Halloween photos, so starting early guarantees you will get good shots, even if the only camera you have access to is your smartphone.

2. After dark, turn your setting to a high ISO. Cool costumes can still sparkle if you crank up your ISO for action shots.  When the sun fades, Trick or Treaters will naturally come out.  Crank up your camera’s ISO  for some great action shots.

3. Here’s the rule: Keep your ISO as low as you can get without blurring your images. Set your camera on shutter priority mode. Use at least a shutter speed of 1/200. Use the ISO to balance out the exposure even up to 1600 or 3200 for candlelight images, without getting all blurry.

4. Shoot Eye to Eye with the Little Guys

This trick works any time you are photographing children. To shoot from their eye level,  kneeling down for a dramatic difference in your photographs.

5. Flash Can Be Your Friend

A Great Shot, Magic or Not in Halloween 2018.

Invisible Butler Serves Her Tea However, You Wouldn’t Need to Use Photo Magic to Have a Good Shot.

Just be aware like the glow from the house’s windows or the Halloween pumpkin candlelight won’t really show up. Try a tripod. Awkward with trick or treaters, we know!  But the images are worth it.

How about using a Monopod?  Check them out.  They are low cost, fun, enhance your photos and create great Holiday Opportunities. So, Happy Haunting and Happy Shooting!

Let’s document our family and friends because you are not shooting for just yourselves. More than Halloween, you are documenting life and relationships in 2018. But do not tell your subjects that!  Just Have Fun!