It’s October! I love October. Not too cold yet (usually) and always inspiring when it comes to the darker months. And I thought I should finally get to it and write a bit about my very few but fun Halloween inspired photoshoots I’ve had so far. It began in 2012 with the very first Halloween shoot on my balcony. Dear old beloved balcony. I miss you. Same as Canvas shoots, white wall as a backround and sunlight from above. It was also my very first photoshoot with beautiful Jana who’s been transformed into a vampire. But still a pretty one, I think. Especially her eyes. Though today I think I would have done it without the fake blood. Maybe someday again. Christin and Tobias were awesome, both as zombies performing a little show, sitting on my balcony, making faces, grunting and pretty much loving their characters. I was proud of that photo and I still like it very much. The make up was done by Christin, for both of them. I just love how she’s looking straight into the lense and Tobias is just doing his zombie thing.
The second shoot in 2012 took place just a few days later, this time really „fully“ outdoor at my second photoshoot home, the Friedensengel (Golden Angel). Everytime I drive by there now so many memories suddely come back all at once. I learned a lot at
that place, I’ve met hundreds of people and I also photographed them all. Thousands and thousands of photos. Pleasant, unpleasant. A lot of different faces. Well, this second shoot was kind of disappointing though, just because the sun was shining like there was no tomorrow. And suddenly we’re already in 2013, a year later in October, right on Halloween and right before November knocked on the door. I’ve had such brave, brave models working with me that day. Janina first jumped in a little (big deep) puddle where usually only dogs enjoy themselves, and then she became Samara from The Ring. Or was it the other way around? Maybe. I love this photo, still. Johannes blew my mind when he also jumped in the river next to the dog puddle and we all feared for his life for a minute. It was the coldest day you can possibly imagine, without there being snow. Of course I didn’t force them to do any of those things, they just did it. I wouldn’t have done it in a million years myself. Chapeau and applause. Hany and I did something I loved and still love: Burning things.
She had to lay down on the ground at some point because there was a very curious older lady who just didn’t move out of the backround. So much that we thought she did it on purpose, and maybe she really did. But we were freezing so hard and couldn’t be bothered by any delays or interferences, so Hany did her last poses for the shoot laying down. And I also still very much enjoy those photos until this day. It was an old book we burned, by the way. Lisa and her boyfriend who stripped off their clothing without hesitating were wrapped to a tree with simple kitchen foil.
Well, that’s an idea, yes.
I wasn’t sure about those photos back then but I have to admit I really like it now. S’got something! The latest Halloween shoot took place last year (2014) also right on Halloween and involved model Jonas and a skeleton inspired make-up, and also my model Kamil, but this was for the brand Ponyklau, which I’m linking to here. (Blogpost) So I really view my photoshoot with Johanna as a vampire-zombie-dead body as my last real Halloween shoot.
We wanted to shoot somewhere underground but since I’m working with available lighting we ended up using an old train station in Munich. I’ve been there a couple of times in the past, but unlike other places, this location (to me) got boring. Plus they’re always some other photographers with their models, and those looks they give each other kill the mood. If looks could talk. “What are you doing here, I’m the professional one at this location ..” Just shut up please, we’re just having a little fun. The last time I’ve been there was with Johanna for this exact Halloween phoshoot in October 2013. It’s usually pretty hard to take photos down there, because of the lack of natural lighting. But it was a sunny day and we had a fun little zombie party without caring about some comments we got from another team ..“Macht ihr Voodoo?” 
We met in front of a shopping center where Johanna had bought a doll for kids before we went on to the location. Also, she did such a great job with doing her make-up all by herself, and she put in some completely black contacts so I couldn’t look her in the eyes anymore without getting creeped out. We used coloured smoke, Johanna picked up and dragged some scrap towards the camera in full zombie gear, blew up a lilo and put a white sheet on it where she laid down between some bushes after smearing fake blood on her face .. In the end she burned that poor doll which stank like something vile coming straight from hell. We basically just had a really productive day down there! It’s been a while since my last photoshoot with Johanna, (over a year) she’s pretty busy, though I hope she might find a free day for new photos sometime again. And it’s been even longer since my last real Halloween inspired photoshoot. It doesn’t always have to take place in October, does it?
For now, thanks to all who participated and almost froze to death, much appreciated!
It’s been a long time. That means there has to be something new. Slowly but surely. Maybe soon.
Laura x
lauragrafie 