We here at Haunted Eve get asked a lot of questions about our Jack-O-Lanterns and Pumpkin carving techniques. So the Haunted Eve team put together some tips and tricks for carving a large number of pumpkins into terrific glowing Halloween Jack-o-lanterns. We've also include some tips for getting great Jack-O-Lantern pictures or "Pumpkin Portraits" as we here at Haunted Eve like to call them.
Pumpkin Gathering
To make sure that all the pumpkins are as healthy as possible for Halloween night, we always buy our pumpkins the second week of October. We try to buy our pumpkins from local farm stands that sell the pumpkins by size, not buy the pound (several medium to large size pumpkins could cost a small fortune if purchased by the pound). When selecting several pumpkins try to get a variety of shapes to make your Halloween display more interesting. We wash off all our pumpkins with a garden hose to get all the dirt and mud off. We then wipe off the excess water using paper towels and then store the pumpkins on our covered back porch where it's cool and dry until we're ready to carve them.
Pumpkin Preparation
Since we carve 30+ pumpkins every Halloween, we had to come up with a system to make it efficient. Two days before Halloween, we cut the lids and scrape out all of the the pumpkins. By doing this we get the messy part out of the way and we give our hands a rest before carving. When finished, we lightly spray the insides and outsides of the pumpkins with common household disinfectant spray. This helps inhibit the growth of mold and will help the Jack-o-lantern last a few days longer. Remember: Never spray the pumpkin when there's a lit candle in it! Store the pumpkins in a cool, dry place with the lids on. By keeping the lids on the pumpkins, the pumpkins will desiccate slightly, which makes them easier to handle when carving.
Pumpkin Carving
The day before Halloween is carving day. We typically have friends come over to help carve the Jack-o-lanterns. Be creative when carving pumpkins. We use to do the commercial patterns until one day while looking at other Halloween yard display web sites we noticed that our Jack-o-lanterns looked identical to the other web site's Jack-o-lanterns. While patterns can be fun, we think it's better to be original.
Jack-O-Lantern Lighting
We find that votive candles work best for lighting a Jack-o-lantern. We recommend using a high quality votive candle. While the temptation is there to use cheaper candles, trust us, it's no fun running around Halloween night constantly re-lighting 30 smoldering candles. We recommend using scented votives like cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and vanilla. With all the pumpkins we display in our yard, many a Trick-or-treator has commented "Your house smells yummy!"
Remember: Never place a Jack-o-lantern near flammable materials and never leave a lit Jack-o-lantern unattended.
Pumpkin Portrait Tips
Place candle lit jack-o-lanterns in a dark area and turn off the camera’s flash.
Use a tripod to allow for crisp focus during long exposures. Hand held shots are likely to blur.
When photographing groups of jack-o-lanterns, place pumpkins at different heights to fill the frame from top to bottom. Plant stands work well for this.
Try to position pumpkins so that the candle flame is not visible in the photograph.
Take several versions of the same picture. If you camera allows f-stop bracketing, use it to obtain lighting variations. An over-exposed picture will include more surface detail on the pumpkin. Under exposed shots will produce more graphic images of the carving detail.
- Use other props around your jack-o-lantern to add interest to the pictures.
Publications
Our jack-o-lantern pictures have been used in Martha Stewart's Living Magazine and Heights Life (published by the La Habra Heights Improvement Association). If you would like to use any of our Halloween pictures for your publication please contact us at hauntedeve@yahoo.com.
Copyright © 2008 Hauntedeve.com
