Tipster: Horror Photography with ontdec19

Conceptualizing and creating a themed shoot is always a good exercise. These shoots don't only improve your photography, but also other skills such as graphic design, styling, and set design among others. Now that it's Halloween, we wanted to talk to Lomographer ontdec 19 about tips on creating and conceptualizing a horror shoot.

References

For something as broad as Halloween, it’s nice to tap into your own culture or interests to have a unique and memorable concept. Beyond just simply looking at social media or mood board sites for inspiration, looking into your interests is very underrated when conceptualizing shoots. Your favorite movies, video games, books, or even personal experiences are great ways to add personal flavor and uniqueness when coming up with concepts and ideas for shoots. With @ontdec19 coming from Thailand he decided to channel and take inspiration from Asian horror movies which are very popular and acclaimed around the world.

For this Halloween-themed concept, I was inspired by a lot of Asian ghost movies especially those coming from Hong Kong. This one focuses on a ghost trapped in an abandoned house but uses elements found in Asian Horror movies.

Use things outside of the box

Using props is also an important factor. When asked what items he used @ontdec19 told us about his use of mirrors and lighting, but one of the more unique features of this series was his blood effect. This was actually achieved in post-production using his Ipad to create the effects.

The right equipment

@Ontdec19 used LomoColor 800 as his choice of film stock along with a Canon EOS 55 which is a 90s Canon SLR that was known for its quick auto focusing time and features such as the eye-picked focus point, panorama mode, and multi-exposure mode. The multi-exposure mode is what helped @ontdec19 achieve the double shots for the concept shoot.

The Process

When asked about the process, he broke down his process step by step for us to follow.

The first thing I did was to draw what I wanted and have some rough sketches. This helped me frame and position each picture much clearer. I think this is something underrated since most people use references from the internet so it is good to draw and figure out what it will look like before shooting.

Next would be to shoot the subject in the lighting that you want. In this case it was the red and blue lighting. Also if I was going to use double or multiple exposures I would photograph the subject in another position.

After that, I would use the iPad to position the blood and smoke, or any other effect, and take another picture with the film camera to complete the multiple exposures. You can always do this in post but I have the multiple exposure function on the camera.

We hope these tips will help you come up with fun concepts for future photo shoots!

We thank @ontdec19 for sharing his insights. You can check out his work here. Got any tips for shooting horror concepts? Comment down below. For anyone who wants to share tips or advice message me at @rocket_fries0036

written by rocket_fries0036 on 2022-10-30 #people #tutorials #tips #multiple-exposure #horror #thai #thailand #asian #makeup #lomo800 #canon-eos-55 #set-design