Different folks enjoy different holidays. The Galaty’s enjoy Halloween. Each year, they spend countless time and effort converting their home into a haunted house. I’m talking about most of their home. At a party there early this year, we had a tour of the house. In several places, the discussion was something like, “this is for the haunted house,” or “we will use this room for the haunted house this year.” That was last winter. Planning is basically a year-round activity.
They now even have a web site for the event. Part of the proceeds this year went to support Rochester Water Ski Shows which had heavy losses during the recent flooding.
As I mentioned in my last post about the drive-through Halloween event, shooting in darkly lit places and conveying a spooky mood require some thinking about lighting. The haunted house had lots of moody lighting already, although it was pretty dim as you’d expect. If you look at the background in the top photo, behind our greeter, you can see some of the red light that filled the room with the casket.
I decided to bring along my strobe attached to the camera via a cord. That let me aim it wherever I wanted. And I added a deep blue gel to keep a cool, nighttime undertone to the shots. I had to be careful not to overly compete with the great colored lighting already there, but sometimes my blue is the most noticable light. However, I think it still matches the scenes, conveys the feelings, but is just a bit different than the live experience. If I have to compromise, I want to compromise artistically, I guess.
Groups of visitors were guided through the haunted house. Each room had a different theme. The clown room must have been designed with my son in mind. He always hated clowns as a kid!
Both of the Galatys are fitness nuts, so it’s no surprise to find a room filled with fitness equipment. Apparently, some exercisers have been at it too long.
Black lights were used in various parts of the house. Mixing with other lights and my blue flash, the images I captured are almost surreal. They looked pretty cool in person, but the photos are amazing. I had someone ask about this image wondering what work I’d done in Photoshop. Turns out, no pixels were harmed to produce this image. It’s basically what came from my camera.
There were quite a number of actors helping throughout the tour. The costumes and makeup were great.
I particularly enjoyed this zombie boy as he crawled across the floor. Here you can see my blue flash providing just enough light to brighten his face. I would often fire the flash down or behind me to achieve the balance I wanted.
There were some rooms in which the group was treated to a brief performance such as this room with an electric chair. You can imagine what was shown. Special effects, especially smoke, were used throughout the house.
This kitchen was well stocked, although the cook was a tad ragged.
The tour ends downstairs at the back of the house, and other props such as cemetary and the Galaty’s new hearse provide more for visitors to enjoy as they walk back around the house. As I left, I was struck by all the work they put into this production and the dedication of the folks who helped make it happen. Walking back around the front of the house, the line had grown substantially since we arrived – we came early.
In one night, I shot two Halloween events. Although they had the same scary theme, they were vastly different in so many ways. As a photographer, it’s this variety that keeps me shooting. It’s not just the desire to grab a few good images but the planning and exploration of light and lighting that make it fun. When I’m all done, I look at the photos and consider whether I achieved what I set out to do. Do they match the pictures I had in my head before the shoot began?
That’s the final test. I’m happy with the results making it a good night of shooting.
