Behind the lens of a gothic-inspired Halloween photoshoot.
Sometimes a photoshoot takes on a life of its own, and sometimes the finished photographs look very different from the conditions in which they were originally taken.
My shoot with Ewa was a perfect example.
It was a lovely, warm and sunny day. The autumn colours were beautiful, the light was golden, and everything around us looked rather inviting. Hardly the sort of setting you would immediately associate with Halloween or the end of the world.
But I had something rather different in mind.
A Gothic Beauty
Ewa was a wonderful model to photograph. She had a naturally gothic style, which worked beautifully with the darker atmosphere I wanted to create.
Her outfit, dark hair and dramatic appearance all contributed to the look, but there was one feature that really stood out.
Her eyes.
There was something quite mesmerising about them. They had an intensity that could completely change the mood of a photograph, even when the rest of her expression was relatively subtle.
As a photographer, those are the little things you look for. Sometimes it’s a particular pose, sometimes the way the light falls across someone’s face, and sometimes it’s simply a look that makes you want to press the shutter.
With Ewa, it was definitely those eyes.
Turning Sunshine into the End of Days
One of the biggest challenges with this shoot came afterwards.
The original photographs were taken in warm sunshine, with beautiful autumn colours and plenty of natural light. Lovely conditions for photography, but not quite the dark, unsettling atmosphere I was hoping to achieve.
I wanted the finished images to have something of an end-of-days feeling, as though Ewa were standing in a world where something extraordinary, perhaps even supernatural, was about to happen.
That meant doing quite a bit of work on the colours and overall atmosphere.
The golden light needed to remain part of the photographs, but I wanted it to feel more dramatic and ominous. The shadows needed greater depth, and the overall colour balance had to support the gothic theme.
One particularly tricky part was removing the unwanted colour cast from Ewa’s skin. With so much warm light and reflected colour in the original images, it was important to correct the skin tones without losing the atmosphere that made the photographs work.
It was a balancing act between creating something dramatic and keeping Ewa looking like herself.
The Art of Taking Too Many Photographs
I have a habit of shooting in bursts.
It’s something I picked up years ago when photographing gigs and concerts. When you’re shooting musicians on stage, you can never be entirely sure what the lighting is going to do next, or how someone is going to move.
A fraction of a second can make the difference between an ordinary photograph and something special.
So I developed the habit of taking several photographs in quick succession, rather than relying on a single frame.
It’s a habit that has stayed with me.
During my shoot with Ewa, I took approximately 350 photographs.
Yes, 350!
Of course, nobody needs to see 350 photographs from one shoot, and part of the photographer’s job is knowing which images are worth keeping.
The first selection brought those 350 photographs down to around 50. Then came another round of choosing, comparing expressions, poses, composition and overall impact.
Eventually, I arrived at just 16 finished photographs.
Finding the Photograph That Works
One of the things I enjoy about photography is that the best image isn’t always the one you expected to be the strongest.
You might take several photographs of essentially the same pose, but a slight movement of the head, a change in expression or the way the light catches someone’s eyes can make one image stand out from all the others.
That’s why I like having a choice.
With Ewa, I was looking for photographs that captured her gothic appearance while also creating a sense of mystery.
I didn’t want every image to look identical. Some needed to feel dramatic, others more intimate, and a few needed to let Ewa’s expression do most of the work.
The final selection was about finding the right balance.
Dark Wings and Autumn Light
What I particularly enjoy about the finished collection is the contrast.
There’s the warmth of the autumn sunshine, the beautiful colours of the surroundings and, standing against all of that, Ewa’s dark gothic appearance.
The completed Halloween edits take that contrast even further, introducing a more supernatural, almost apocalyptic feeling.
And at the centre of it all is Ewa herself.
A good photograph needs more than an interesting background or dramatic lighting. It needs a subject who can bring something to the image.
Ewa certainly did that.
A Halloween Thank You
I’d like to finish by saying a very warm thank you to Ewa for being such a wonderful model.
Her patience, her gothic styling and, of course, those extraordinary eyes helped make this a particularly enjoyable shoot.
What began as a photoshoot on a lovely sunny day became something considerably darker by the time the final photographs were completed.
And with Halloween approaching, that seems rather appropriate.
Happy Halloween from HERA Magazine International.
Photography and editorial: HERA Magazine International.
Featuring Ewa.
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