In honor of Halloween, (which many of the staff here at pictureline considers the best holiday of the year) we wanted to feature fun (and spooky) images from some of our very own staff. Halloween is one of the most inspiring times of the year for conceptual and creative photographers, allowing artists to temporarily excuse themselves and their subjects of their, well…artistic weirdness. Showcasing the creativity that Halloween provides to many, these images are just a few examples of what a huge variety of inspiration it gives to artists! Enjoy, and Happy Halloween from all of us at pictureline!
Jessi V.Jessi has a yearly tradition of photographing ghostly images, and this years photographs are no exception! Inspired by the book, "Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children," Jessi set out to create a set of images that look as though they captured a passing spirit stuck in our world.
With the 5D Mark II, Jessi photographed her ghosts in several locations that appeared abandoned and overgrown. Then with Photoshop, Jessi took multiple images and transposed them into a single image using layer masks and then added a vintage sepia filter to give it an aged appearance.
Crystal K.Crystal, our very talented Graphic Designer found a way to fuse her love of portrait photography with the spookiness and fun of Halloween and costumes into one! It started out as a glamour session Crystal did for a friends birthday, but quickly developed into something she does regularly with clients, even hiring professional make-up and hair stylists.
Photographed with the 5D Mark II, Crystal uses the Profoto D1 single kit with a beauty dish to create the dramatic lighting on her subjects, then later edits the images in Photoshop by enhancing the skin and eyes to achieve the Halloween subjects famous characteristics.
Stacy Y.From the rental department, Stacy is a fantastic studio photographer and loves working with children (and even the adventurous adults) in their Halloween costumes. "The kids are my favorite to photograph in their costumes because they take their character very seriously, and have so much fun posing in front of the camera as a someone else. It’s a really fun game for them."
Shot in-studio, Stacy uses the Profoto D1 double kit with a soft box for smooth even light over her subjects. Wanting to keep her images clean and simple, post-production consisted of making sure contrast, coloring and tone gave the character enough pop!
Serene C.Serene loves all things vintage, so when she combined her photography with vintage Halloween elements, the creation was definitely on the creepy side. Initially photographed as a school project, the images were shot digitally, then turned into negatives to create Van Dyke's, an alternative process with a sepia tone.
Using a 60D, Serene photographed her subjects in authentic gas masks purchased in Ukraine, inspired by photographs from World War II when most people couldn't walk out their front door without needing a protective mask. Post-production included editing curves with a black & white filter and finally an overlay to give the illusion of aged, scratched film.
Dave W.Dave has a big imagination and loves to play with his kids, and many times they become his photo subjects! Shot with a Fuji X Pro-1 and lit with two Profoto B1 strobes and soft-grids, Dave used the changing light of the setting sun for vibrancy, and the location for an industrial look. Dave loves having the B1's in his photo equipment arsenal, "They have changed the way I shoot with strobes. Not only do they have TTL with your Nikon or Canon camera, but they are fast and easy to use with any camera that has a hot shoe."
Dave did a simple edit in photoshop by adjusting contrast, tone and color and whalla! a fun photo session to remember another fabulous Halloween! Dave's advice from this shoot is to always approach an Imperial Storm Trooper with caution, at times they can hit their target. After this photo session Dave found himself blind in his dominate left eye and missing his left arm (lasers can do that to you).
