Halloween Photoshoot at Betty Noir Studio

Halloween 2019 was my first Halloween at my new photography studio, so I just had to do a special photoshoot offer and build a brand new set for the occasion!
After constructing the units in my vintage beauty room at the studio, I had some cut outs of MDF left over, and I new straight away exactly what I was going to use them for! Tombstones!

(The units we built -mid construction. You can see that perfect tombstone shape cut out!)
I'm pretty handy with DIY tasks, so got to cutting the one board down using a jigsaw, to create a tombstone that looked like it had fallen and sunken into the ground. I had plenty of spare lengths of wood knocking around the studio from the build, and a few hinges in my tool kit, so I made stands that folded down at the back of the tombstones to prop them up (I figured having them fold flat would mean they were easier to store away when out of season).

Using some left over white emulsion and a small pot of black I had stashed away at home, I mixed them together to create a selection of grey tones to work with. Starting with the lighter grey base coat to cover the entire tombstone, and then working with some darker grey tones, sponged and blended around the edges, for that aged effect, and then of course the final addition of R.I.P.

I had some Astro turf which I bought years ago for a floral photoshoot, and saved knowing it would be put to good use again in future. It had been folded and stored for 5 years under my bed and had started to disintegrate a little underneath, so I salvaged what I could and cut out a shape that I thought was most pleasing to the eye. The addition of some tufts of grass (one of those "I don't know what I need this for right now, but I know I'm gonna need it" purchases from a few a months earlier.

The final addition of some Halloween cobwebs, my trusty old smoke machine and a purple gel on a 7" reflector dish to capture the stream of smoke, and my beauty to dish to capture the subject. I was ready to rock!
I was so pleased with the finished look!

Some more images of one of my favourite clients on the Halloween set, burlesque performer Eliza De Lune.

All images are my own.