Costume, check. Makeup, check. A place for the photo shoot, check. Camera settings, check.
You seem just ready to take spectacular Halloween couple photos. But aren’t you forgetting something?
What about lighting? Lighting is a crucial element for a perfectly illuminated photo.
And often, people overlook or completely forget about this essential element while clicking photos.
Everything aside, if your lighting is not perfect, your photos are not going to turn out the way you want them to.
To make sure your Halloween party and the various hours you have spent picking a theme and getting your subjects dressed don’t get wasted, follow these lighting tips to click Instagram-worthy Halloween couple photos.
Tips for a Flawless Halloween Couple Photoshoot
Just getting the makeup and costume right is not enough. You need to choose the right surroundings and more to make your Halloween couple photos look authentic.
Here are three important tips for flawless Halloween photoshoot ideas for couples.
- Choose Creepy Backgrounds: The place you are shooting your Halloween photos should do justice to the look of your subjects. Shooting in your room with a cute and colorful backdrop will make your photos look anything but scary—Hunt for the perfect location. You are bound to find it on Halloween night. It could be the cemetery, an old abandoned door, a broken-down isolated house, a field with leafless trees, etc. The options are endless.
- Use Relatable Objects: Skeleton masks, pumpkins, spider webs, and bloody arms are some of the decorative items that can turn your Halloween photos extra scary and dark. Just make sure you choose those props that don’t scare the daylights out of your subjects. Or else you will have to search for another couple to finish your shoot. You won’t want to take that trouble. Right?
- Get the Pose and Expressions Right: A couple in skeletal clothes laughing childishly and sitting in front of a cemetery doesn’t make sense. The pose and expression of the subjects need to match the attires and, most importantly, the theme of Halloween. If you are aiming for a good-natured Halloween photo, make sure the attire of the subjects is subtle and not extremely Halloweeny to strike the right chords with the viewers.
Ways to Use Lighting to Capture Halloween Couple Photos
Halloween is a great time to set a couple of goals. In photos, at least. Here are four ways to effectively use lighting in a Halloween couple photoshoot.
1. Dark Lighting
Since Halloween has a spooky theme and the party happens at night, you want your photos to be dark to showcase this dominating feature more.
For this, you want as little lighting as possible. One light source is actually enough to give your photos a look that matches the mood of the festival.
If you are shooting during the day, you will want to ensure you shoot indoors so you can control the amount of light filtering in.
You can shut the curtains and other light sources to create the nighttime effect.
If you want to shoot outdoors, you will have to wait till it becomes dark for an authentic spooky touch.
You can use this single light at the side, underneath, or above the subjects.
You have to place the light in a way that it throws a bright spotlight on the subjects while casting enough shadows under their eyes and silhouettes.
2. Backlight
To shower the couple with a bright light that doesn’t fall directly on their faces, you need to use lighting at the back of the couple.
For this, you need to create a background with a semi-transparent surface using a bedsheet, frosted acrylic sheet, or a light diffuser with a strobe for the backlight.
The distance between the subject and the surface will define how well your photo comes out.
If you are shooting it outdoors, make sure the ambient lights or the artificial lights from the surrounding areas are at their lowest.
And if nothing else works, make your subjects stand in front of the full moon- your natural backlight for that incredible Halloween couple photo.
3. Flashlights
Flashlights are an incredible way to use lighting effectively for a Halloween couple photoshoot.
You can point the flashlight directly on the couple’s face.
You can also use it as a spotlight, casting a spooky glow on the couple, leaving the surroundings in the dark.
You can combine the flashlight with the camera’s flash for a brighter and spookier effect.
4. Ambient Light
Shooting outdoors for Halloween is extremely fun because you have many lighting options for a real spooky touch.
Think street lamps, glow sticks, jack-o-lanterns, porch lights, and even moonlight.
You just have to find the right angle of the ambient lights falling on the subjects and see which way it makes the photos appear scary and Halloweeny.
And if dark figures standing side by side or strolling on a deserted road is your dream Halloween couple photoshoot idea, then ambient or moonlight is the best option.
5. Soft Light
If you want the photos to take on a vintage feel for that extra mysterious touch, choose soft lighting.
You must focus on lighting in reds and oranges for such an effect. The lights must emit a soft glow for a subtle shadow-casting capture.
But then your image will be only vintage and not scary. To get the Halloween spooky feel, add extra lighting and place them at the sides of the subjects to cast a deep dark shadow.
The End!
Your Halloween photoshoot can turn amazing only if you follow these and other tips you find to the T.
But then also, don’t just take our word for it. Follow the tips and see what difference they bring to your photos yourself.
The right lighting and the way you use it determines how good or bad your photos turn out to be.
Try different angles, positions of the subjects, the distance between the camera, subjects, and the lighting, etc., to arrive at the best angles, positions, and distance. The effort will be worth it in the end.
After all, Halloween comes once a year, and you don’t want to wait another year before you can get the photos right.
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