A Small Request

For those of you out there who own one of my hand-made jack-o'-lanterns: I'd love some pictures of them in their new homes.


I have this dream of revamping my website and including a gallery of past jacks in their new homes. If you have any pictures with you and your new jack, that's even better! (We'll call it "New Jack City." Get it? Har.) At the very least, I'll upload them to a new Flickr gallery as they come in. Send them to shellhawksnest dawt yahoo dawt com. And keep your spam and viruses to yourself!


And don't worry, you don't have to take a pic with them if you're shy.


Thanks, All!


Oh, and if you're in the area, I'm up at Jack Russell Farm Brewery again this weekend, selling my "normal" ceramics, most of which I still need to post on Etsy.  Oh, well. In my next lifetime, I'll be more organized and have the two clones I need to carry out my work.

Photography

It's been a crazy, mixed bag around here since the first of October, but now that things have settled down a little bit (very little! I'm returning to Jack Russell Brewery this weekend to sell my "normal" art), I thought I'd share some things about photography with you.


First, I want to share that I'm not a photographer! I'm just someone with a Canon Powershot that's a few years old, and that I really love. I have to confess that I've barely cracked open the operating manual, that I have no clue what an F-stop actually is or why it needs to stop Fs, and that I'm just starting to figure out the whole macro thing. Even so, I've managed to take some pretty good pictures!


I figured out pretty quickly that showing daylight pictures of my jack-o'-lanterns wasn't getting much interest, and wasn't showing them fulfilling their true purpose. So I started to set them up with candles glowing inside to entice people to see them as they were meant to be seen in their homes.

Don't get me wrong, now. I'm not under the impression that I'm Ansel Adams, by any stretch of the imagination. I have much to learn, there's no doubt! What I did learn straight away-and this is where it gets useful for you haunters who want to take pics of your props next October 31st-is to turn the damn flash off and use a tripod!  (Click Tripods for your camera to search for the right tripod for you. You can search for Digital cameras, too, if you need one. Don't forget, that other holiday is coming soon, so you may be able to get Santa to bring you one.)


We spend our time creating the best lighting our budget allows for the ToTs to come through the atmosphere we decide to create for them, and then we try to take flash pictures to show it off. It just doesn't work. The shadows are destroyed, the lovely red or green floods disappear, and you can just forget about that led pin spot on your favorite mourner.


Getting back to photographing my jacks for a moment, I believe I shared with you that taking the photos of them lit, in a nighttime setting, nicely framed, and displaying them in my booth, plumped up my sales enormously. Not only that, but people actually started to ask me how much the photos were! Because of that, I started to list the photos in my Etsy store and brought a bunch of matted photos with me to the booth, as well as having several framed sets ready for people to hang on their walls.


One of the best things I did was to sign up for my Etsy newsletters. It seems like at least once a month, there are some tips on photographing your products. While Product Photography for Beginners and Give Props: How to Style Your Photos may seem off-topic, their other posts on photography [be sure to scroll down] helps you learn how to run your camera and see your shot setups in a more creative way. You can easily translate this to your haunter's needs, and it may even change the way you set up and light your haunt next year.


For night photography tips for beginners, there's always the "Dummies" series on YouTube. I found a good article here, too. Obviously, doing a Google search will turn up oodles of results.


You can get all crazy and find Books on How To Photograph at Night on Amazon, too. I'd recommend it if you want your haunt pics to look their best next year! I'd recommend Skull and Bones's lighting tutorial for your haunt, too.


If you're like me and do better with someone actually helping you out, you might consider ponying up for a workshop. I don't know anything about this person, but I have to say that taking night pics at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is so tempting! There are sure to be some workshops closer to where you live if you do a little research.


So, go forth and educate thyself! You've got a whole year to practice. Just keep at it, and you'll be amazed at how much you improve.

Bob

My dad sent this over to me and I thought I'd share. Be sure to watch past the credits!

And Yet More

I honestly debated whether to post more pics, as aside from Leota and the change in the front room, there haven't been any changes to the graveyard. The witch is still substandard in looks and no new tombstones have been added. I was just too damn busy this year. 

The hand-blown spider jar looked quite at home on the apothecary shelf, I must say.

I brought out my trusty tarot deck for a prop. I'm sure someone will be offended by that, but oh, well. And, oh, my dog found and tore up that lovely zombie head the next day. Bad dog!

My last-second costume decision. I was feeling a little dark that day, I guess. Had to pose by my favorite Pumpkinrot treasure.

Even though this is a bit out of focus, I thought it looked pretty decent. The fog was very cooperative that night.

 Stewie always looks so deceptively sweet amongst the roses. We'd had an unusually warm October, and they rewarded us with one last lovely bloom.

I hope to cut together the Leota footage this week. My back has been giving me a helluva time, so it doesn't look like rearranging the studio is on the list and sitting on the couch is.

Just to Keep You in the Loop

Just so fans of Hauntcast are aware, we're pushing back the new show until (we hope) Friday the 11th.


Clearly, Chis and the boys are still suffering from Hallowe'en hangovers and need the extra time to pull everything together! (Just kidding, guys...)


Tune in next week!

Remains of the Day

I was leaving the garage to take a break from putting Hallowe'en away in the attic when I noticed I left a light on. Thought it was kind of cool and creepy, all at once.


Damn, it went by fast.


Just realized that it's the three-year anniversary of this blog. (Again, damn, it went by fast!) Spooky Blue was the first one to ever post a comment, and on my first post, too! He is still a great inspiration to me, and I'm sure to you all as well.


So, to all of you who have come back again and again to read my rants and ramblings, and glean that occasional pearl among the dross, I humbly thank you.


Happy New Year.

Swamp Foetus

If you haven't had a chance to get over to Pumpkinrot's blog, now is absolutely the time!


Each year, Rot and his lovely bride, Bean, create Hallowe'en in their own unique style. Both are artists in their own rights, with the artist's attention to detail and the moods they wish to evoke in their viewers. Rot usually has a video of the year's special project, and the video always wows. This year is no exception.


Swamp Foetus. It even made it onto the Dread Central website.


Congrats, Rot. You and Bean really outdid yourselves this time!

A Few More

Did some packing up of the outside today (plus laundry put-away duty, plus returning costume bits, plus...), as we're expecting a huge rainstorm tomorrow. Gotta get Stewie covered up! So I haven't had time to compile things appropriately, as of yet. (I guess it's called having a life! Who knew?)

 More soon...

Just a Few

More soon.

From the Annual Party at the Nest