Tag: creepy

Posted on by

Live Show Recap: Spooky Shots

 

OoOooh, we reviewed your Spoooky photos this week and it was a blast. We’re so glad to be back at our regular drinking time.

 

*Attention!* Next week the time may be an hour off for you, as we have daylight savings time this weekend. So make sure to check sdp.io/live for the countdown next week. That show will be on “candid family” photos, street photography tips apply.

 

Shout out for my photo blog! I had a great spooky model this week and got a few killer shots.

 

Chit-Chat! Our favorite segment where you say dumb stuff and we respond:

  • “Have fun on snapchat and instagram you wrong-headed buffoon”

  • Responses to Chelsea’s boudoir video were… mixed

  • An Arnold Schwarzenegger!

  • Mona Lisa was shot on a film camera

  • Chelsea has a sharpened toothbrush

 

Kyle Wolfe! Our friend won an award in the USA Landscape Photographer of the Year contest for the youth category. He’s the best. But haters gonna hate.

And on that note: ignore the haters, y’all. They are a loud, cowardly minority.

 

Ok, let’s look at your photos:

  • Tragic teddy bear death

  • Ghost pumpkins

  • Mask

  • “This zombie has great bone structure”

  • “This guy is really committed to his Halloween costume.” “No, that’s his life, Tony.”

  • “You have tar in you?”

  • Jack Skellington

  • “It’s like the prostate exam from hell”

  • Blair Witch

  • “Beat it, dementor, I’m having a latte”

 

PhotoNews:

  • Adobe Photoshop update: finally a search bar

  • “OM-D, more like OMG, it’s $2,000”

  • Nigel Barker’s show premiered, you can see it at sdp.io/top

  • New FAA guidelines on travelling with batteries

 

Over to me for some viewer questions:

  • What would be your one vice if you could only choose one? Miami (vice). Alcohol, candy, sugar. Meth?

  • Any plans for the super, super moon on November 14th? Yes.

  • How long does it take you to become comfortable enough with a new camera to take it on a (paid, presumably) shoot? Depends on the shoot.

  • Favorite 4k camera? We use the A7Rii and the GH4.

 

Let’s look at some portfolios! Brittney Watson up first. Change your landing page, the Disney shots are nice, but not marketable. Your portraits are lovely! You could market yourself easily, so add a pricing page and more hiring info.

 

Next up, Martin Kynde. Delete the “Portfolio” header, just use your two sub-menus. Gorgeous landscapes. Bulk up your portrait page, separate any shots of repeated models. Great work!

 

Ok, back to your photos:

  • Condom head?

  • They had a fog plan

  • Not spooky owl

  • Black eyes, black water

  • Illuminati spot-colored cat

  • “It’s got a little crucifix. I bet this is called the Jesus spider. Oh, it’s a garden spider. I was spookily wrong.”

  • Headlights

  • “This breed is prone to hip dysplasia, that’s spooky”

  • Not today, zombie

  • “Old man in the sea, it’s a different kind of book.”

  • “This is like when I order chinese and I’m waiting”

  • “You know what’s going to be spooky? Their lighting bill.”

  • Light play

  • Black Widow

  • “Is this Jamie’s picture? Because we had a guy named Jamie who had a lot of feelings about that photo shoot.”

  • Award-winning photographer Kyle Wolfe

  • Colored contacts are HELL on your eyes

  • Ghoooost

  • “Low low, what the heck is that? Irish buttermilk.” “That’s what is bothering you?”

  • Nuh-uh, Pan

  • Great bike shot

  • Maya! Nice fish.

  • “She’s just like ‘what, this is what we do, it’s Wednesday!”

  • Horror at the Samsung store

  • Eyes wide shut

  • Black cats get a bad rap

  • Face paint

  • Creepy baby

 

I got fired while I was gone. Justin takes over.

Question from twitter: third-party batteries? Don’t do it!

Opinion on the new Macbook? Not really our thing.

 

Back to photos:

  • Shoutout to the few of you who sent in photos of angel statues a la the Dr. Who episode “Blink”

  • Free hugs!

  • “There’s me and you, still waiting for that delivery food.”

  • “That’s a lot of hands”

  • Modern witch

  • “Sexy giant” “is that what you’re into?”

  • Shadow

  • “When you’re dead but you still gotta take care of your baby”

  • Donnie Darko

  • Axe man

  • “Oh, computer problems”

  • Vampyre

  • Speed round! There’s some gems in here.

  • Murder face

  • Bloody kid

 

And that’s our show! Tune in next week for candid family photos, and make sure to check the time because we have daylight savings.

Posted on by

Beginner Photography: Spooky

Guys! This was a fun one. I paid my daughter, Eloise, in candy to come out with me and take some photos, because kids are creepy as heck. Styling, setting, and mood are very important for setting a spooky scene. I put her in a vintage dress and hair bow and put brown eye shadow around her eyes and on her cheek bones to make her look emaciated. I also put cover-up on her lips to make her look paler. She wound up looking quite ghostly.

I had a place in mind to shoot, a condemned church in our neighborhood that would fit the old-timey vibe of her costume. We went out around sunset so that it would be a bit darker out to suit the mood. I would have shot later, but I don’t have an external flash and my camera isn’t the best in low light situations. You’ll see that the images came out pretty noisy, luckily it didn’t much matter with the mood of the images. 

The one thing I regret is not putting her in different shoes. The shoes she wore are really modern and I had intended on having her take them off, but then didn’t want her standing in sticks with her bare feet. The styling is so important though! Something modern looking in a photo that is meant to look antique will take the viewer out of it. Pay attention to detail! Eloise is not great at smiling for the camera, so she was kind of perfect for this shoot. There are so many old buildings in the area that served for great settings. Here’s what I came up with:

I positioned her with the date of the building to add context. I also used a radial filter to blur the area around her for mood. I converted all the images to black and white and pulled down the reds and oranges to lighten her skin. The dress wound up far brighter than the rest of the scene, so I pulled down the highlights.

pa301253

I loved the little chair sitting by the building, along with the slope of the ground. I positioned Eloise coming towards the camera and nearest the right of the frame to have her uncomfortably entering the viewers space.

pa301265

I wanted a shot of her in front of the Danger sign, although it messes up the timelessness of the scene a bit, the signs are obviously current. But look at that vacant stare!

pa301270

This is probably my favorite. The leading lines up to her, the darkness in the trees behind and her creepy stance.

 

How’d I do? Did I successfully creep you out?