Jenna Caplette migrated from California to Montana in the early 1970s, first living on the Crow Indian reservation. A Healing Arts Practitioner, she owns Bozeman BodyTalk & Integrative Healthcare. She says, " Health is resiliency, a zest for the journey. It’s about coming awake to the joy of being alive. As a practitioner, its a privilege to facilitate that healing process, to help weave new patterns of health & well-being. “ And by the way, healthier, happier people help create a healthier, happier world. 

Have fun with your Halloween Photos

This Halloween, have fun with your images! Take close ups of costumes, focusing on details. Document highlights of what you see: the most impressive bag of gathered treats, the jack-o-lantern you carved, and the best decorated house or event.

Play with lighting a face or image from the bottom up, using the highly advanced technology of a flashlight to create a ghostly effect. If your camera has a wide-angle lens, get close to your subjects and have fun distorting them.

Experiment with camera angles and perspectives – take a shot from above, or one on your belly shooting up. Practice and play. Get close to your subject, fill the frame, and then back up. All the while, keep your central focus on his/her eyes.

As you look around your location, don’t forget to check what’s behind your shot to make sure it will not detract from your image. A kid with a streetlight sticking out the top of his or her head is memorable, but probably not in the way you want. Bright lights in the background, particularly when your subject is standing in subdued light or shade, can be distracting. On the other hand, bright light directly behind behind your subject can create a spooky-stark silhouette. Experiment and play!

For quick, quality shots, point and shoot cameras offer “Scene” modes that make it simpler to capture a variety of pictures. In contrast to “Auto” that chooses exposure and focus settings based on its best guess of what you are taking pictures of, “Scene” modes allow you to tell the camera what you kind of shots you want. The camera makes better creative decisions in “Scene” modes, and changes things you might forget like setting the white balance to match the shooting situation. Not all camera brands use the same names for modes but here’s a few ideas you can use to capture Halloween’s mood.

Some cameras have a Low Light mode to keep colors true and prevent noise when you shoot without a flash. But noise can also make an image feel spooky. Add it back in with a photo app like Snapseed.

Generally, Sports mode freezes subjects in motion, like kids walking up to the front door to trick-or-treat. Try Landscape mode for a group of trick-or-treaters strung out along a sidewalk in the afternoon.

The easiest environment to get great Halloween photographs is somewhere everyone feels relaxed and their focus is not on you, like when they are hanging out with friends and negotiating where to trick or treat next. People in costume often like posing for pictures but just the same, take your images in quick succession before the moment fades.

Using a telephoto lens to capture the action allows everyone in the shot to keep their focus on whatever they are doing, not on you and your camera. It helps to separate your subjects from the background of your image, bringing them close to you, and blurs the background, leaving no question as to what the image is about. Or blur the background by using Portrait mode.

After dark, look for and experiment with a Night Portrait mode. It takes a longer exposure of the background to capture some of the ambient light, and then fires the flash just the right amount to capture your subject in full, sharp color that matches the lighting of the scene.

Using your iPhone? For low-light shots activate HDR and see if you like the effect.

There are so many great photo editing apps, have fun and relive the memories after Halloween by creatively editing your favorite shots. Then, create and print a photo collage of them all to display on your wall like a poster.

Oh, and if Montana’s traditional Halloween snowstorm blows in, head on out, camera in hand. Adverse weather conditions offer an opportunity to take unusual photographs -- autumn leaves swirl at your subject’s feet, their hair blows, or snow frosts their eye lashes. These details don’t detract from your photo – they enhance it. Just be sure to keep your camera dry.