Victorian Ghost Children Halloween Photograph Editing Tutorial

Victorian Ghost Children Halloween Photograph Editing Tutorial

There is nearly nothing creepier than melancholy Victorian-era children in haunting ghost form. This is such a fun way to capture ghosts on camera! This is a fantastic photo shoot is one of my favorite projects I did with my kids. 

That lacy parasol and swinging pocketwatch...these kids know how to make a creepy look in a tranquil setting. This fun post has been updated from the 2012 post. I won a contest with this photo editing post and won our first ipad.

As you look at these pictures you can almost hear the sounds of children giggles echoing through the forest. Their sad faces are reminiscent of a long lost era.

These photographs, in their monotones, are completely chilling and the perfect Halloween decoration!

Supplies for this Photoshoot:

Camera

Tripod

Victorian-Era Children

Victorian-Era Props

Computer/Laptop for editing

Photo Editing Software (photoshop, pixlr, etc)

The first thing we did was take 376 pictures. Well, lets back up. I explained to my kids what I wanted to do...the 10 year old, 8 year old, and 4 year old were all on board...surprisingly. I have the best kiddos.

Step one: Costumes!

Dress up the children in "old timey" clothes. The simpler, the better.

 The boys wore some bow ties that I hot glued together for this shoot, pinned on their shirts with a safety pin. The boys had vests, which is their standard church clothes. And can you believe I had this dress for my daughter in her closet? Just a plain school dress and dark gray tights.

Next, we found some accessories.   Old keys, a vintage pocket watch and a lacy parasol.  

Step 2: Photoshoot

Then we trekked around our neighborhood...with me in a hoodie and yoga pants. I scoped out great picturesque places...and the little cemetery a mile  across the road from us. (yes, we walked, my kids are amazing...and we are a 1 car household)

Once a location is selected, set up the camera on the tripod and don't bump it. Arrange the children in the photo and snap a picture or two. 

Next, leave the camera on the tripod in the exact place, have the kids come stand behind the camera to get out of the picture. Take a picture of just the background.

**NO SMILING!**

Halloween photoshoots are the best!

The best part about this photoshoot is that I didn't need all  my kids to smile at the same time! I just told them to look kind of sad...and we got some great shots!

Step 3: Photo Editing

At this point, reward your kids with a treat and a movie! They've earned it!

Now, generally, I am a photoshop girl. I've used it since high school... I think that's when the cavemen first invented photoshop for pc's.  Anyways. I decided to try out pixlr...and I love it! It's free...so super bonus there! And it navigates basically the same as photoshop, so it didn't take me long to figure things out. So, if you've always wanted a great photo editing program--try this!

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The upload process is simple and you can see both pictures side by side.

Then copy the picture with the people and paste it right over the top of the plain background picture.

You have 2 layers now.  Then on the top layer (the one with the people)  select that tiny carrot: Toggle Layer Settings

It will bring up the OPACITY bar.  This is the fun part.   Just use the slider to make the people appear ghost-like! Every picture is different.  Some I took the opacity to 60% some only 73%...

Then you want to look at the layers and make sure they line up as good as they can. Not always super perfect, but it gives it a vintage double exposed kind of feel!  

Then Desaturate the images... You can also do sepia tones or old photo effects.

So the picture goes from looking like this regular photograph:

And this plain background photo:

To this ghostly appearing picture:

And then change the tones to sepia finish:

Repeat as many times as you have photos! We altered tons of pictures!  We had them printed in 1 hour at Walmart, made cards for family and friends and wall decor for the entry way!

It helps if you have some ornate vintage frames...kind of spooky! I love how they add to the creepiness of our Halloween decorations.

These pictures are a fun memory in time, since they were taken in 2012, and it's been 9 years! I love to see my little creepy babies, like the haunting memories of their childhood the one year we lived in North Carolina.

It would be a fun family history lesson if you found family gravestones and took pictures there. It would be creepy cool to have your own last name on a headstone. 

Awesome, right!? These kids were hardcore, walking miles around the neighborhood, dressed strangely and letting me take so many pictures of them just for this fun photoshoot. 

I really do have the best kids. And actually, I totally want to redo this photoshoot and take them out again. Maybe I can find a spooky alley or an abandoned house! What do you think?

  Like, Pin and Share!  Or...save for later!

Check out this amazing video edit too! This is my son when he was about 5, edited by my husband. 

My son watched the finished video when he was five and asked "where's that lightsaber?" He really hoped it was real.