Each October, many youngsters around the world enjoy Halloween. What a great opportunity to take fun-filled photos!

One of the most important things to remember is to catch the children doing something, not just posing. Take lots of photos to help ensure you get some “keepers.”

If a child is young, consider using an assistant. He or she can help with the room lighting and other such stuff. An assistant can help get youngsters smiling when you’re ready to take a shot.

Catch facial expressions

One of the goals should be to capture a child’s facial expressions. So photos look more natural, shoot when a child is unaware that the camera is pointing his or her way. Don’t forget to take some shots when they are not wearing masks.

Take photos at the eye level of the child. Also so vary the angle by taking both horizontal and vertical shots. When photographing a group, have the youngsters stand close together.

Let the subject fill the frame. This helps eliminate distracting backgrounds and focuses on the child.

Illuminating the subject

When using a flash, stay within the flash range. Don’t stand too close, or too far away. Avoid taking shots with shiny objects in the background, such as high-gloss furniture, mirrors and windows. They reflect the bright light back into the lens and can ruin a photo.

If you’re outside, use slow synch flash. You’ll capture more of the background. A tripod is recommended if the lighting is very low.

When not using a flash, turn on room or outside lights to help illuminate the subject. To eliminate camera shake, hold your camera very steady or use a camera support.

Remember, too, that a flash may recycle slowly, so prefocus whenever you can. Oh, and start with a fully charged battery as it will improve flash recycle time.

When taking photos around artificial light, adjust the white balance to match the light. On the other hand, capture some cool, eerie effect and color casts by using incorrect white balance settings. When done, remember to set the setting back to auto white balance.

Don’t forget the jack-o-lantern

If you photograph a jack-o-lantern, turn off the camera flash. Place more than one lit candle in the pumpkin to increase the glow. Lock focus and exposure on the pumpkin by depressing the shutter button halfway down before fully depressing it.