OCTOBER
A poem by Evalyn Callahan Shaw
October is the month that seems all woven with midsummer dreams;
She brings for us the golden days that fill the air with smoky haze,
She brings for us the lisping breeze and wakes the gossips in the trees,
Who whisper near the vacant nest forsaken by its feathered guest.
Now half the birds forget to sing, and half of them have taken wing,
before their pathway shall be lost beneath the gossamer of frost.
Zigzag across the yellow sky, they rustle here and flutter there,
until the boughs hang chill and bare,
What joy for us—what happiness shall cheer the day the night shall bless?
‘Tis hallowe’en, the very last shall keep for us remembrance fast,
When every child shall duck the head to find the precious pippin red.
A little about our annual Halloween witchy photoshoot....
Since Halloween is our absolute favorite holiday, I like to do a fun little witchy shoot just for me each year. I always pair it with some sort of spooky or autumn themed poem. This year as I was dressing the studio mannequin in a witchy styled outfit, my daughter, Ava, declared she wanted to wear the outfit for a shoot. Her 15th birthday was approaching as well (one week before Halloween) so this shoot would double as a birthday session! PERFECT for a photographer who specializes in teen and senior styled portraits!
Our annual Halloween shoot concept and outfit was designed and styled by me with a perfectly wicked and mystical forest location in one of our many wonderful Orange County parks! I bought fresh flowers and wheat at Trader Joe's to create our featured bouquet. The marigolds represent the luring of our passed loved ones and wheat representing the final harvest of Autumn. Black lace top is by Forever 21. Fall colored leaves are courtesy of Adobe Lightroom color sliders because we all know in SoCal we don't get real actual Autumn colors until January.
We were assisted by Chris Montgomery of ChrisMO Art and LightShootRepeat Photography, who was a wonderful VAL (voice activated light stand) and incredibly enthusiastic fog sprayer.
*I want to especially emphasize that we did NOT use any actual fire, lit candles, or smoke bombs of any kind during this shoot! We value our environment and fully respect California's tendency to burn easily, which means finding other means of creating the ethereal looks we wanted in natural & fire sensitive areas. You will find our list of products used below and HOW we used them to create this moody fiery look, so that you can safely do the same.
Products used for this shoot: Luminara Candles, which are battery operated candles, made to flicker like real flames (although, I lit them brighter in Adobe Lightroom, using an inverted radial filter during post processing, for better still photo effect), Godox AD200 flash set at 1/4 power with Fresnel Zoom magnifier with double full CTO gel placed several feet behind the subject, and canned fog by Atmosphere Aerosol sprayed generously during stifling, still, humidity, between the gelled light and behind the subject. Last but not least, Ava's face was illuminated during dusk hours, using a handheld TorchLED video light turned to full power and set to warm light.
Blessed Samhain, and Happy Halloween!
xx, Chele
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