I love Halloween! My kids love Halloween! It is such a fun holiday for us as a family. I enjoy watching my kids run from house to house screaming with excitement as they get their treats. I want to capture all of it in photographs for them, and for us, so that we can relieve these treasured moments forever.
But let’s be real. My kids move FAST. It’s DARK. My camera is heavy and my kids don’t want to cooperate with me. They just want to be kids and Trick-or-Treat. I get that. And I want to experience it all with them and not just be behind the lens.
I realized a lot of the photographs I want to take don’t necessarily have to be taken on Halloween night. Here are some ideas for photos you can take before Halloween.
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No.01Jack-O-Lanterns
I told the kids we were going to pretend it was Halloween on October 22! They thought I was crazy, but they loved it. One of our traditions is to carve pumpkins on Halloween. We happened to have 7 big pumpkins that we’ve collected this Fall from various field trips and events the kids have been to. So we decided to carve a few on the 22nd.
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No.02Details
Details are so hard for me to get on Halloween night because my kids are just so excited and don’t want to stop for me to take a photo of their little hands holding their pumpkins. But these are the exact photos I want.
It was also fun to get an image of just their costumes!
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No.03Trick-or-Treating
This one is my favorite! I’ve got tons of images of the backs of my kids at a neighbors door but never one from the front. So getting this perspective was a highlight for me.
I had the girls walk up to our front door and my son open it for them while I stood at the top of the stair for this shot.
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No.04Nighttime
This is one I’ve had in my head but my kids are always running or off to see friends and I don’t want to stop their excitement to set up a tri-pod and make them stand there. But on October 22nd, they were willing to do it because they had no place else to be and got to stay up past bed time! And we have the street without distractions or trick or treaters getting in the shot.
Love the trick or treating one at the door! I want to do this. I can tell your son is being a good subject by even giving them pretend candy!
What’s do you recommend settings for street lights? (Like I your last pic)
Thanks so much for the tips. I’m with you, always struggling to keep the kids attention and grab a few shots, then I’m missing the moment! It was fun to shoot these ahead of time when we had nothing to do! I love the perspective ideas you had and added a few of my own (silhouette shot with cool storm clouds, view from pavement of him walkin down the street, ect.) thanks a bunch!
Love, love, love these pictures!
Kicking myself for just now reading this! But we haven’t packed up the Halloween costumes yet, we may still recreate the at-the-door shot.