Why I Take A Ghostly Halloween Photo Every Year
This post originally appeared on Medium in October 2020.
For fourteen years straight my family of five and I have gone to pick out a pumpkin at a local church’s pumpkin patch. The only way I know we’ve been doing it for fourteen years is because that’s the age of my oldest son.
The past couple of Halloweens, as my eye for unique photography situations has improved, I take a long exposure of the festive scene at the church. Naturally, the pumpkins stay put, but as the shutter on my camera stays open, the cars on the busy street in the background drive on by.
The resulting photo serves up a fun, ghostly image that always delights and provides me something seasonal that I can share on my social media accounts.
I take this photo for two reasons
It’s fun for me — and for my family. The photo works perfectly as an interesting Halloween setting. The blurred cars driving past mimic an apparition in the background of the image. This year I was lucky that a white car passed through my frame.
I post the image to my Instagram account. As a freelance photographer, you never know when a potential client might scroll past your feed. To me, it’s simple brand building. And this image, although not that technically difficult to create, serves as quality example of a creative photography skill that I possess.
Developing your personal brand is the same thing as living and breathing your résumé. — Gary Vaynerchuk
My favorite part of taking this photo every year lies during a few seconds of anticipation. But, it’s not my own suspense of what car will be streaking by or if my settings are perfectly dialed in.
The best part is what happens behind the lens.
More often than not my wife and my three kids are all waiting to look at the preview of the image that I took almost like I performed some kind of magic trick. The euphoria only lasts for a moment — the time it takes to pull away from the viewfinder and show off my work to four of my biggest fans.
When I get home, I edit and size the image to share on my Instagram feed. Might this photo be the one that stops the scroll of my next potential client and prompts them to send me a DM about future business? Perhaps.
But if you want me to provide the real answer on Why I Take A Ghostly Halloween Photo Every Year?
It’s for the likes and comments I get from those standing with me behind the lens.
“Oh, wow dad. That’s cool!”
“Look at the car. It actually does look like a ghost.”
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Scott Duvall is a videographer, photographer, podcaster and digital consultant living in Athens, Georgia with his wife, three kids and a dog. His company is Jawavi Films (Ja-Wa-Vi is an acronym of his three kids’ first names).