The A-List: Halloween Season

From costumed kids to decorated houses to the colors of the autumn days and nights, Halloween is a decidedly photogenic holiday. We asked Lindsay Silverman, Nikon senior technical manager, dedicated photographer and father of two once-upon-a-time trick or treaters, for his A-list of tips for capturing some memorable moments.

• I grew up in the Northeast, and for me Halloween was the official start of autumn, no matter what the calendar said. It signaled the time to photograph the changeover from the greens of summer to the oranges, reds and golds of fall. That hasn't changed. Halloween is not just a day, not just a few hours of kids trick or treating. It's practically a season in which neighbors decorate their houses and lawns with pumpkins and props to create little (or not so little) Halloweenscapes. In the run-up to the day itself, I have plenty of chances for photos.

• I like to shoot at different times of day before the holiday. When I photograph decorated homes in the early morning, mist or ground fog adds an appropriate mood. Afternoon sunlight brings out all the colors of the seasonal décor, and twilight serves up the perfect setting for otherworldly goings-on.

• Kids: I don't like to pose them, not my own or their friends. I like to catch them being themselves—getting into costume, attending parties, trick or treating, checking out the loot they've collected. I've got an advantage in my neighborhood. I know all the kids and I know their parents; we're on the sidewalks kibitzing as the kids make their rounds. It's an ideal situation for natural shots.

• There are exceptions to every rule, which explains the photo of my daughter, Mary, who took a few moments for a few posed pictures while she was getting ready for a school Halloween event. But I kept it quick—five frames and she was on her way.

• Lots of times I use a COOLPIX for quick, quality shots, setting scene modes for specific situations. For instance, I use portrait mode for my pumpkin shots. Why? Because portrait mode chooses a shallow depth of field, meaning precise focus on my subject but nicely blurred backgrounds that don't distract from that subject. Landscape mode gives me the opposite—great depth of field, so it's good for long views down sidewalks and along lawns and the fronts of houses. Kids walking up to a house? I set the camera for sports mode—it's not a sports moment, but the kids are moving and I want to favor a fast shutter speed to catch them sharply in step. D-SLR shooter? Many Nikon D-SLRs have scene modes, too. Or, for portrait situations you can set the camera for aperture priority and choose a wide opening—I generally like f/4 with a moderate telephoto lens, like the 55-200mm [AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED]. For kids in motion, I set the camera for continuous AF and continuous low-speed advance to capture sequences of the youngsters moving along.