Happy Halloween! The Washburn family continues their tradition of Halloween portraits this year with a family portrait theme from the movie, The Mummy. Starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Wiesz , The Mummy is a 90’s summer action blockbuster that doesn’t take itself too seriously. With the right mix of corny jokes, action scenes and some surprisingly great on-scene chemistry between Brendan and Rachel, The Mummy is a fun filled ride that always seems to entertain me whenever I watch it.

This year’s photo shoot went so much better then last years. The humidity was high, but Tyler was the only one that needed to have a ton of makeup on. If any problems came up, I was able to concentrate on him and just him. I wanted to take aspects of the 1999 movie, but I also wanted to add my own style and the style of the original mummy movie. The inspiration for Tyler’s outfit and makeup are modeled after Boris Karloff’s mummy from the classic 1932 movie. I stuck with characters from the newer movie for Sue and myself, because it’s more recognizable and made the most sense for the two of us. We don’t usually copy characters. Our Scooby Doo shoot was the only other one where we dressed as the characters everyone knows and loves. We usually pick a theme and try to come up with new and different style of characters or monsters to be original. It’s much harder, but it’s a challenge and it’s fun. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.

So here we are, the final portrait piece for 2019. The Washburns present…The Mummy!

I know what some of you are thinking. Tyler is not that tall. Well, Tyler is now 6” 1” and I’m standing behind him, so yeah, he is that tall. Though I’m also probably shrinking at this point.

Poor Tyler.

I have to give this kid credit. He has been doing this since he was 9 years old and he as never complained. I have put him through a lot over the years, but this year, oh boy. His outfit and makeup from start to finish lasted 3 hours. We had a tv set up in the garage and we watched The Mummy because he had never seen it before and that helped. The bandages were a cheap set of sheets and pillow cases that were torn into strips and dyed grey. As I mentioned earlier, it was very humid and the bandages were getting moist and sliding off. I had to tie a lot of them in knots and many of them were really tight. The ones around his head, arms and legs had to be tight to stay on and it was getting uncomfortable. To make matters worse, I had to apply liquid latex and tissue paper to his face and hands, and then paint them to create the mummy look. He was covered head to toe in an outfit he really couldn’t move that well in. He made it through the ordeal and he is definitely the star of this shoot.

Eric, Tyler and Sue in The Mummy Family Halloween Portrait

Boris Karloff’s mummy was the inspiration for Tyler’s costume and the poses in the photos.

Here is a quick time lapse of getting the garage and Tyler ready for the shoot.

A mom and her mummy. Even thousands of years in the tomb can not separate these two.

For those wondering, I made the book of the dead that Sue is holding. It is made from cardboard, foam, clay, pvc, paint and hot glue. It took a week. Yes, it’s only in like three pictures. I also custom made and painted the mouth prosthetic that Tyler is wearing.

But what about Pepper you say? Well, we didn’t quite leave him out. He gets afraid of the flashes (he thinks it’s lightning) so I don’t take photos of him anymore with a flash, but I did include him, sort of. Can you find him in the main photo?

Sue was nice enough to take pictures of how I take over the house when I plan these photos. As of this blog post, the mess is still there.

This is dedicated to my wife and son, without whom I would never have been able to create such fun and joyful photos. I look forward to creating many more with them both in the future.