The Washburn's Halloween Portrait 2024

eric washburn October 26, 2024

Another year and another Halloween Family Portrait! This year is a little different, I did not come up with the theme. After last year’s 80’s horror films, Suzannah wanted to choose. She picked her favorite author from when she was a teenager, Stephen King. Sorry Stephen, but you are not her favorite author now. Your books got scarier as she got older. One more reason not to get old.

So, Stephen King is the theme this year and we did four of his books/movies. The Shining, It, Pet Semetary, and Carrie. Lucky us, it is Carrie’s 50th anniversary this year. It was Stephen King’s debut novel 50 years ago this past April.

We present this year’s photos….

Halloween Family Portrait 2024. Carrie, The Shining, IT, Pet Semetary.

Eric as Pennywise the dancing clown. Down in the sewers under the town of Derry.

I am not a fan of AI, I feel like it’s overused and requires little to no work or imagination. I do feel like it can be used for inspiration and in this case a background for this photo. I looked though a lot of stock photos of sewers, but this AI one worked best to get me the overall feel I wanted. I added a lot of extras and details, and a few little surprises if you can find them.

Eric as Pennywise the dancing clown. Close-Up.

Tyler as Jack Torrance from The Shining.

The Shining hallway background is also an AI creation. I added the rug, picture on the wall, blood & writing, lighting and some coloring. It emphasized the subject and makes it more interesting.

Suzannah as Carrie. Before the incident.

The stage background is an AI creation. The letters, fire, sparkles, bucket, blood, lighting, etc, were added by myself.

Lucy doing her best impersonation of ‘Church’ from Pet Semetary.

Below we have some videos of behind the scenes and some of the original photos. Hope you enjoy, see you all next year!

The Washburn's Halloween Portrait 2023

eric washburn October 13, 2023

Happy Halloween! This year’s theme was 80’s Horror movies and with an actual Friday the 13th in October, that had to be at the top of the list. We also included a bonus of Nightmare on Elm Street and Evil Dead into the mix (yeah, I went too far again).

Eric and Sue as camp counselors. Tyler as Jason Voorhess. Friday the 13th family portrait.

I wanted to have a more practical special effects feel and less photoshop (at least for some of the photos. I got the idea to build a cabin façade that we could use for the photos. I started getting pallets from work and breaking them down. I built a pretty flimsy door and wall, but it just had stand up for a little while. I then destroyed the top part of the door and started to add back the pieces, attached with wire, to look like they are breaking open and flying apart. So now Tyler, “Jason”, can look like he is smashing his way into the cabin.

I made a door and wall set piece out of old pallets.

We tried a bunch of different poses and scenarios, but I stuck with the three that told the best story. We made the tee shirts with iron on transfers and a Camp Crystal Lake logo that I put together in Photoshop. Those lovely tight little red shorts were bought on Amazon, and will never be worn again for the love of humanity. Tyler’s Jason outfit was a plain white hockey mask that I roughed up and hand painted. The clothes were picked up at Goodwill and aged and destroyed by hand. The machete is a toy prop.

Two counselors not paying attention to the campers. Friday the 13th family portrait.

Will Suzannah be the final girl? Friday the 13th family portrait

Next up is Tyler as Freddy Krueger. This was hard. I am happy how it turned out, but I think I would have needed to practice this a few times with different types of makeup to get it right. I knew I was going to be hard, but it was tougher than I thought. I included a time lapse below. It took two hours to complete. Thanks to Tyler for having patience to do this each year!

Tyler transforms into Freddy Krueger for our 80’s horror theme.

Last, but not least, myself, as Ash Williams from Evil Dead. I always get asked for more of me, but it’s really hard to get into makeup or a costume and not be behind the camera to get the photo. Tyler takes the photos, but I have to stop, look, readjust and keep trying till I get what I’m looking for. I went with Ash from Evil Dead 2, even though I look closer to Ash vs Evil Dead (age and body type). Outfit was torn up, tea-stained and dirtied up by hand and the chainsaw was hand made. I used EVA foam and a bunch of You Tube videos to make it. The foam is amazing. I can see why cosplayers use it, it is incredibly versatile, and it was a lot of fun to make. I will definitely be trying to find other things to make in the future.

Ash’s chainsaw. made almost entirely out of EVA foam, paint and rubber cement.

Overall, I’m happy with the outcome this year. We already have plans for next year, thanks to Suzannah, who has picked the theme. Whatever could it be…..

Tyler as Freddy - Eric as ash and Tyler as Jason.

Halloween Portrait 2022

eric washburn October 24, 2022

14 years. Hard to believe it's been that long. It's getting harder to find the time. I have the ideas, but to get everyone together in one weekend is getting tougher. Last year it was last minute, and this year was the same. I still have not done the one I wanted to for the 13th Anniversary, not sure when I’ll be able to get that done. We almost didn’t do this year, because it just seems like the list of things to do gets longer and longer. I can thank Suzannah again for encouraging me to do the things I enjoy doing, not just the things that need to be done. Always find balance. Might learn that eventually.

Tyler as a Goblin - Suzannah as a Banshee - Eric as a Gargoyle

This year’s theme?….Well, since I decided last minute..it was, ‘What can I do with what I have left from previous years.’ Sounds exciting, huh?

I went through the boxes of stuff we have stored away.. the old costumes, the makeup and the props. I looked up Halloween myths and monsters and picked three we haven’t done yet. I chose a Goblin, a Banshee and a Gargoyle. The only group photo is the one above. These three really didn’t go together, but it’s nice to mix things up every now and then.

Up first, The Goblin.

If you have followed over the years, you might find Tyler’s outfit familiar. It was from the Skeleton Theme photo in 2014. It was really big back then and now fits him perfectly (glad I got the large size). The makeup was from the zombie set of airbrush paint for the zombie shoot. His hair was left over crepe hair from when we were werewolves. I had to buy the ears and nose. I was going to try and make them, but, I ran out of time.

Up next, Suzannah’s portrayal of a banshee. An Irish folklore of a female spirit who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, and shrieking. It was perfect for her - Let’s see if she reads this. ; )

I had to get a new wig, but the makeup was from the skeleton shoot, and the sheets were leftover from The Mummy shoot, ripped in the same style as Tyler’s mummy was. The shirt she is wearing is the one I wore as Fred from the Scooby Doo shoot.

Tyler used a leaf blower to blow the ripped sheets and Sue’s hair. The leaf blower was a little strong and took some practice getting the right distance and strength. It did make for some funny outtakes. I had to composite many of the best parts of each photo for the final look.

Finally Eric as the gargoyle. mainly makeup from the zombie shoot. I bought the horns and balding cap (never used one before, I think next time I can get it a little neater). Also really hard to do your own makeup and get it everywhere it should be.

The video below is a short time-lapse of the makeup process.

Hope you enjoy! We’ll be back next year.

Maybe.

Halloween Family Portrait 2020

eric washburn October 27, 2020

Well, it looks like I haven’t done a blog post in a year.

I wonder why.

It’s been quite an interesting year and it does not seem to be ending. One thing that got me through was thinking and working on different projects. I made a lot of notes and did a lot of research in the time I had, which was not that much. I still have not gotten a break this year, the pandemic kept all of us busy in the hospital. This is also something I’m very grateful for with so many other people not having that luxury.

We did end up spending a lot of time out in nature, which was amazing. Biking, canoeing and hiking was great. You needed to get up early and get it done before the entire city had the same idea and joined you.

The point is, it really changed my perspective on a lot of things. Problems that bothered me before, really did matter that much any more. If something didn’t work right, oh well, try again. I ended up with more patience then I used to have. Now, I still get frustrated, but it feels different. That brings me to this year’s photoshoot. I got the idea almost immediately after finishing last year’s shoot. I had time to plan and think, which really helped, because not much went well at first. I had a lot of ideas for the props in this picture and not a single one worked out the first time I tried to make them. I’ll get more into that later, for those who are interested. For now, I introduce the 2020 Washburn Halloween Portrait.

Our theme this year was Greek Mythology. Medusa, Minotaur, Hades and Cerberus.

Our Theme this year was Greek Mythology. Starting from the left, Suzannah plays Medusa, I play the Minotaur, Tyler is Hades and Pepper is Cerberus.

Suzannah as Medusa. Yes, the headpiece is real.

Yes, the head piece is real. As much as I love photoshop, everyone who sees the photos I make thinks a lot of the objects are photoshop. From the clothes, to the props, to the backgrounds (which are usually fake) I end up telling people what is real and what isn’t. Sometimes things are real, but I manipulate them to appear different, other times I put in fake objects and have to tell them it’s fake. Most professionals can see right through this, so it’s not that big of a deal to explain the composite to people. If someone likes your art work that much, explaining what is really going on is very enjoyable. That is one part of composites that I love.

This headpiece took a lot longer to make than anything else I’ve ever made. I had multiple ideas that failed the first around and it wasn’t until I discovered cyberlox that it all came together. So, cyberlox, are these goth-like plastic dreadlock things, I don’t know how else to describe them, that are super lightweight and flexible. They were perfect. I bought a snake head 3d model and my friend Chris was nice enough to print about three dozen snake heads for the head piece. I hand painted them with acrylics. I cut the brim off of a baseball cap, attached wire, painted it black, added the cyberlox on the wire and superglued the snake head to the front. After that, it was just a matter of bending them in the right direction. The whole piece weighs just over a pound.

Greek Mythology American Gothic. Suzannah and Tyler enjoying the photo shoot. (for once, I’m joking, they almost always like it)

Tyler got away with it easy this year, the boy had to take organic chemistry this semester at UGA, so I couldn’t stress him out anymore. The beard was made with the crepe hair from the red riding hood / werewolf shoot a few years ago. Over the years I have acquired a small special effects workshop in my basement, so if anyone needs any help with their costumes, let me know, ‘wink’. The costume was bought online and the crown and staff I made myself with foam, pvc, tape, glue and foam clay. I have never used foam clay, but it is one of the coolest thigs ever, I can see why cosplay people use it. Now that I’ve made a few things with it, I think I have a good grasp on all of the possibilities it has.

As for me, I originally made my own horns. They weren’t bad. I crafted them out of wire and paper mache. I tried smoothing them with plaster of paris and it looked great, until they dried, cracked and completely feel apart. I painted what was left and hoped to “fix it in post” (Good photographers try to never say that phrase).

I was able to take the first couple of photos before my horns and hair started coming apart. I was able to get the main photo complete, but getting a close up was not going to work. It’s very difficult to have props and makeup on and take the photos. The horns in the final composite are not mine. The ones I made just didn’t make the final cut. The costume is real, although there are some manipulations. The bull nose is real. It’s a prosthetic with makeup added, like the prosthetics we used for the zombies and the werewolves. I have come to love using the prosthetics, they are awesome and learning how to make them has been a lot of fun.

I’ve tried to use as many real props and costumes with the photos and embellish them with photoshop. This was the goal along. We hope you enjoy this year’s Halloween shoot and hope you will return for the finale. Yes, the finale. We will be stopping at 13. Great Halloween number to stop at. It’s time to move on to other projects. See you next year!

Black Light Girls

eric washburn August 9, 2019

I had a lot of supplies left from our Halloween shoot years ago and I was dying to use some of them. Lucky for me, Hannah and Skyler were excited at the chance to help me with that dilemma.

As beautiful and awe inspiring that black light photos appear, to make them happen is a messy operation. We used paint, glitter, brushes, tooth brushes, sponges, water and towels. You can be the neatest person possible, but these supplies get everywhere, especially the glitter.

I created a black light ring light for the Halloween photos years ago and took it out of storage for this shoot. It’s a little heavy and bulky, but it gets the job done. For more photos from the Halloween shoot and a look at the black light ring display go here. (a new window will open up)

All of the photos are taken with a 50mm lens with a wide open aperture. The iso is 200 and I’m using a tripod. There are not a lot of adjustments needed in Photoshop. It is up to you what you want to enhance. The HSL sliders are fun to play around with in Lightroom and of course some clarity, vibrance and sharpening. I really just tweaked these photos slightly because they look really good straight out of camera. Some needed a bit of exposure or high lights correction, but over all, it was minimal. My black light ring light was a huge help to keep the photos lit well.

This was such a great shoot. The girls were fantastic and I can easily see them modeling if they wanted. They seemed to enjoy it a lot and posted them on social media. I really want to come up with some more ideas (or they can) and we can do another one soon.

Halloween Family Portrait 2017

eric washburn October 26, 2017

Halloween Family Portrait for 2017.