(You might also be insterested in tips on buying a camera.)

• Photos showing design and construction of props:
  • ...should be taken in daylight, or under plenty of artificial illumination.

  • Take construction photos before you paint everything flat black, which will hide the details of your work.

  • Take pictures of everyone and everything. You can never tell what you will later want to show off. It is easier to throw away unused pictures than to recreate something you failed to photograph.

• When shooting pictures of completed stuff "in operation":
  • Use a UV filter over your lens. Invisible black light from your effects could fool the camera's light meter or wash out the image.

  • Take your pictures during a dry run, not "on the day".

  • Haunts tend tend to be dark or dimly lit. This will confuse the camera into wanting to use a flash, long exposure, or wide aperature, to get enough light. Compensate for this by either:
    • Use exposure bracketing settings (+/- EV) to intentionally "underexpose".
    • Use manual exposure control to intentionally "underexpose".
    • If your camera uses "spot metering", place a relatively bright object in the meter spot.

  • Use manual override to disable the flash for several reasons:
    • Flash photos in the dark usually don't look like daylight, because the flash doesn't cover everything.
    • You don't want it to look like daylight anyway - it's a haunt for Pete's sake!
    • The sudden flash may confuse or trigger people-detectors in animated props.

  • In the event that you really do need a long exposure (greater than 1/30 second), use a tripod or brace the camera against something solid. And take several pictures, just in case it blurs anyway.

• You should have a UV filter over your camera lens all the time. It doesn't harm your photos, and protects the lens from scratches. It's cheaper to buy a replacement filter than repair or replace a scratched lens.

• We suggest digital photography. This allows you to instantly see your picture, and take a replacement if it doesn't come out. Some digital "still" cameras are also capable of taking short movies that are easily put on a web site.

It's OK to ignore this advice, if attempting to follow it stresses you out ... because any pictures of your haunt are better than no pictures!

Thank you for visiting. Your comments are welcome.
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