My kids and I love Halloween! We decorate the house and have a fire pit with the neighbors while handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. We never go overboard on anything but it’s just a fun and relaxed holiday we love celebrating! And, well, CANDY. I mean come on. YUM!
Every year I dream of taking photos of my kids in their costumes but in the chaos of my busy season I have never made it happen. Until THIS year.
Grayson wanted to be a mummy and so I took off work Tuesday to make the costume. I had WAY too much fun that day catching up on my DVR and giving myself a million hot glue burns (and am paying for it now that I’m officially behind at work!)! And when I told him I really wanted to practice his make-up and do photos he said he thought we should go to a graveyard. He LOVES all things scary (Jaws was his pick for movie night a few weeks ago and he loved it! Not scared at all!) Every single shot was designed by him – I helped in the final posing or angle of the shot but he chose the spots he wanted to stand and how he wanted to pose for the most part. I say this so that no one accuses me of forcing my kid to do creepy photos! He LOVED every second of our time together and we really had a great time.
I am a bit tentative to share these b/c I don’t want them to come off as disrespectful at all. We did our best to choose OLD head stones and stayed away from the newer areas completely. We also had some great conversation about how to be respectful in a cemetery, how cemeteries work, etc. When he becomes a mortician one day we’ll know where it all started I guess! OK – I’m going to stop worrying about what negative comments could come from this and just show you the photos!
We started the shoot at one really tiny cemetery and when I realized it wasn’t the look either of us wanted we changed locations. It turned out to be the best decision because when I was in high school I actually used to go to this cemetery to study sometimes. That sounds really strange saying it out loud but my Grandma died that year and I wasn’t brave enough to visit her grave so I think a part of me felt close to her here. Anyway, I hadn’t been back in about 20 years so it was neat to talk to Gray about the times I spent there and show him my favorite reading spot. It also got a lot darker which gave me the exact lighting I had dreamed about.
Again, I KNOW these are edgy for a 7 year old. I know. But Gray is SO happy and proud of them.
Next week I am capturing Parker – a witch – in a pine forest and I’m hoping to get some dry ice to make it smoky! Bailey is a dead Santa and we will be shooting her photos on the roof next to the chimney – she’s SO excited about this and I hope I can make it work out the way I imagine it. I also get to capture a client’s Little Red Riding Hood in that same pine forest which will be awesome and twin 5 year old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – I have some fun ideas for them too! I could totally fit in a few more Halloween costume sessions the week after Halloween if anyone is interested! Just shoot me an email at [email protected] if interested and I can quote you the pricing!