Photograph a ghost

Techniques

29 October 2009 09:25

Halloween is almost upon us, so why not let your imagination take over and shoot something especially for this spooky festival. You don’t even need a willing model because you can do that yourself, while shooting. How? Well, because you can do a lot in a 30-second exposure.

Set the aperture to f/22 and ISO to 100 to allow for the longest exposure possible. Get into character by throwing a dark blanket over your head for that ‘authentic’ spooky spectre look. Put the camera onto self-timer, fire the shutter and move into position. Stand as still as possible for about 10 seconds (counting in your head), then pull out a torch from underneath the blanket and light up your face for a few seconds. Make sure the light doesn’t accidentally illuminate the ceiling too. Now all you have to do is move out of the frame and paint light back into the scene to create shadows for the remaining 10 seconds. Remember to keep counting throughout so you know where you are - one elephant, two elephant, three elephant… It may take you a few tries to get it right but it’ll be well worth it.

Essential Kit

A tripod is needed to keep the camera still during the long exposure.
A normal torch is fine for lighting the ghostly face.
Appropriate ghostly attire such as an old dark blanket.

Post-Production

Having shot in RAW I then simply adjusted the white balance to get the cold look i was after. If you shoot JPEG you can try setting WB to Tungsten or alternatively go for a warmer look with a different temperature. I also made sure i removed some of the shadow noise inherent in a long exposure shot in post-roduction, but you can also apply this function in-camera.