When I was getting married, my photographers had me make a list of the photos I HAD to have. My list ranged from the basic family shots to group pictures with co-workers, snaps of people on the dance floor, and a pose of me with my ring bearer. I’m really glad they had me make a list, because those are the photos I treasure from my big day.
Ever since then, I’ve made a list of must-take photos for every big event. Spending a few minutes doing this before a party or holiday has helped me capture every important event, and I don’t spend days afterward thinking, WHY didn’t I get a picture of THAT! With this in mind, I am going to share my must-take Halloween photos list that will help you tell the story of your child’s Halloween!
1. Getting Ready: For kids, putting on the costume and the makeup is half the fun. Annie loves staring in the mirror when we get her dressed, and she had a huge grin on her face when we put her twirly Dorothy dress on her.
2. Get The Details: Get pictures of all the little things that make your kid’s costume unique, be it the bows in her hair or the red clown nose.
3. Whole-Body Shots: Make sure you get a shot of your child from head to toe, capturing everything from the monster shoes to the funny hat.
4. Close-ups: Getting that shot of your kids’ faces will help you remember their chubby cheeks, tiny noses, and freckles.
5. Family Shot: My mom has tons of pictures of my brother and me in our Halloween costumes, but she and my dad aren’t in any of them. When your kids look back, they’ll love not only seeing how young they looked, but how young you looked, too.
6. The Action Shots: Annie was so excited to go outside it was hard to get her to pose for photos. She is going to be raring to go on actual Halloween!
7. Trick Or Treating: Usually one parent stays home to hand out candy, missing out on the trick or treating. Make sure to get some shots of the kids walking down the block and knocking on doors so the other parent feels included.
8. Candy: Annie had never seen so much candy in her life. Actually, she’s never seen CANDY in her life. She was so funny going through the pumpkin, and she LOVED her first bites of candy.
9. The Crash: Because they are going to come down from that sugar high, and it’s going to be adorable.
You can get more Halloween tips and ideas from this super-creative PDF put out by HP, my awesome photo partners.
Next week I’ll be talking more about Halloween – avoiding red-eye, taking pictures at night, capturing your pumpkins, etc. Have a Halloween picture question for me? Leave it in the comments and I’ll answer it next week!
Rebecca says:
Wait a second, did you guys already have Halloween in your neighborhood? I’m confused.
Heather P says:
I think they just set it up for the pictures.
Heather says:
it was her practice Halloween so she won’t be scared on the big day!
Mommy says:
Such a good idea to do the practice run first!!! Last year my little guy was about Annie’s age and he didn’t understand what to do at all. He didn’t get scared, but he would tell everyone to shut the door so he could ring the bell again. Ha ha! He couldn’t have cared less about the candy, he was all about the doorbell. Boys are crazy!
You guys are going to have a great time. Happy Halloween, Spohr Family!
Amy says:
I swear as Annie gets older she just gets more adorable.
peach says:
what a joy these pictures are! from everything i read here, mike seems to be a truly doting and wonderful father….
Jess says:
Hi, crazy question here.. In the picture of Annie knocking on the front door, are those flowers real? If so, what are they?! I want!!
Also, she’s freaking adorable as Dorothy!
Heather says:
They ARE real. According to my aunt, who knows about these things, they are succulents.
Lindsey says:
The idea of a practice Halloween is so smart!! We never did that but we did have lots of practice egg hunts before Easter and did the fun ensue!!! We had practiced with plastic eggs with jelly beans or other candy inside so when the big day came, our church had hidden only hard-boiled eggs (out in the hot sun for hrs — not sure about that!!) and poor Ethan who was about 2 1/2 was running around, picking up hard-boiled eggs, shaking them then with total disgust on his face, throwing them down to the ground! I was laughing so hard that other parents had to tell me to go get him, he was ruining all the eggs! He felt totally betrayed!!
Sonita says:
Another suggestion….I always took a picture of my daughter on Halloween with a giant plastic pumpkin….great way to see how much she had grown in a year!
Heather says:
GREAT idea!
Erin @ One Particular Kitchen says:
I seriously want to know how you cultivate this habit of Annie’s of just falling asleep on the couch whenever. You don’t have to, like, PUT her to sleep? Does she just crawl up there and fall asleep? Because, if you can’t tell, I am unspeakably jealous.
Heather says:
She is GREAT at falling asleep anywhere but her crib.
gayatri.life.unordinary says:
loved them pictures Heather, making a list is such a great idea.
Lanie says:
Making a list of pictures to take before big events is such a great idea. Thank you for sharing that and your Halloween photo list. Annie and toto are so adorable. Thanks again. Take care.
Marquitta says:
Very cute and adorable little Annie… I can’t wait to dress up my little darling on our Halloween Party on October 31!
Katie says:
You are awesome, Heather! Thank you so much for this. This will be our daughter’s first ‘trick or treating’ Halloween & I am taking all these pictures (plus about a bazillion more, I’m sure) to document it. Thank you!!! Ps- Annie as Dorothy is the cutest thing EVER. Good job, Mom!
Ray says:
Annie is the best Dorothy Gale ever! =D Love her in that costume. Doesn’t hurt either that, “The Wizard of Oz” is one of my all-time favorite movies. ;o)