The costumes have been picked and I’m guessing the pumpkins are sitting there waiting to be carved in the days to come. Halloween is just around the corner, and although I’m guessing you might not be *quite* as excited about it as your kiddo is, this is such a fun opportunity for some photos.

There can be so much more to photographing the evening above and beyond that standard snap of your kid in front of the wall in a costume.  If your family is anything like mine, there’s often bribery involved to convince her to stand there in that spot for just 2 minutes so you can get a picture of the costume…and it never turns out exactly as you hoped. So, grab your camera (or your phone) and take the opportunity to tell the whole story.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Get the details

Do you have a special candy bag you use each year? Grab a shot.

What about the mask that was tossed aside half way through the night? Grab a shot of it on the ground so you can remember 10 years from now how he couldn’t yell Trick Or Treat loud enough through it.

The decorations and pumpkins are fully capable of telling a story all on their own. I had completely forgotten about the picture below until I went looking through my archives for this journal entry. When I ran across the image of the Sharpie scribbled haphazardly on that pumpkin it made me break out into a huge smile.  In two years it’s amazing how far my 5 year old daughter’s art skills have come. We’ve moved from scribbles to stick figures and now to full blown art projects. Not only that, but that image snapped me back to that evening a few years year ago when we carved the pumpkins and my husband and I both ran out of steam after scooping out 2 so we told her she could just colour the third pumpkin.

2. Crouch down

This is a small thing, but it can make a huge difference. Make sure to get right down to their level so you can capture all the joy and wonder on their little faces.  This will mean you will spend a bit of time crouching, but it’s worth it!

3. Use available light

Halloween is the time to have some fun with using the light that is available. If your kids are into flashlights, then grab a couple and have them shine them under their chins for some spooky looking photos.  Or have an adult hold the flashlight from above their heads creating a spotlight effect.

When you’re out trick or treating you can use street or porch lights to illuminate just a small area.  Grabbing a quick shot while they are waiting for the door to open is one time you’re usually guaranteed to have both a light source and nice still kids.

Even using the light from a jack-o-lantern can make for some fun images. Place your lit pumpkin on a table in a dark room and have your child rest her chin on the table looking at it. You should get a nice glow from the pumpkin illuminating her face.

4. Start a yearly shot

One fun way to show the progression through the years is to try and capture the same sort of shot each year.  It doesn’t have to be identical, but it should show a bit of scale as well as the whole costume.  Since we’ve already covered how painful the ‘stand and smile’ shot can be, I like to make this something that’s on the go and guaranteed to happen. For us, the yearly shot is my husband walking beside my daughter with her holding onto her candy bucket. Over the years it has transitioned to now include both girls. I’m looking forward to getting the same shot of my butterfly and flamingo this year beside their Dad.

4. Get the costume before trick or treating

I’ve learned this one the hard way! If you want a few pictures of your kids’ costumes, make sure you capture them BEFORE halloween night. If you leave it until the night of, the kids are way too excited to go trick or treating to stand still for 6 seconds for you to snap a few pictures. When the kids are really excited about their costumes and still want to wear them all day every day, clear off a wall and take a few shots – during the day, when the light is still good.

 

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