I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween! This was our first year at our new home. Typically we go all out on Halloween (thanks to my husband). Usually not only do we have the yard all decked out, but we also create a haunted house in the garage. This year we only decorated the yard as the garage is still being “put together” from our move. Even though we didn’t decorate as much as we usually do, it was a success nonetheless. My husband did an amazing job and as usual, he was dressed up as Jason from Friday the 13th.
We had over 1000 visitors and several hundred pictures taken not only of our house but of “Jason”. Everyone wanted pictures, and some, well they preferred to run in the opposite direction.
What would you have done if you saw this guy in the front yard?
How I got this shot of Jason
Equipment used:
Canon 7D with EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens
Blue floodlights (background)
Fogger
A very steady hand
Camera Settings:
Manual Mode
Focal Length: 67mm
Apature: 4.0
Shutter Speed: 0.6
ISO 2000
To get this shot:
This was at the end of the evening and the only light I had to work with were the blue floodlights. This was completely unplanned and if I had planned it, I would have done a lot of things differently (see below). However, I saw the shot, thought it was cool and took a chance.
My husband hates getting his picture taken, so I knew I would only get one shot at this. I had him stand offset to the blue floodlights so I would only get their hue in the background. I laid on the ground about 4 feet in front of him and for support used the ground as a “tripod” for my camera as well, with the camera angled up.
The reason I chose to shoot from this position instead of straight on is that I wanted him to appear larger than life. It was also important that I inform “Jason” not to look directly at the camera (or down at me). I waited for the fog machine to create some fog and took my shot.
What I would have done differently
Had I actually planned this shot, I would have used a tripod (I have one that will actually go all the way to the ground) as well as a remote shutter release. I would have locked the mirror, used a filtered front light source, and would have taken my apature to about 9.
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