Spooky: Strange, unusual, frightening Sinister or ghostly in a way that causes fear and unease.
FH viewers know how much I love Halloween, and especially Halloween imagery featuring the male form. Some years.. I've gone a little overboard with my naked witches, ghosts and goblins, but I think I've reigned it in a little. Although I begin my Horror Hunk series at the beginning of the month, Over the past few years, I've tried not to start posting images of the Spooky Season until at least 10 days before the 31st.
We'll we've passed that 10 day mark, so for the next week or so, it's officially Halloween on the site. My main theme this year is going to be a salute to the movies. Those scary films, horror hunks and Psycho serial stalkers and killers so many of us watched as kids, and re-watch as adults throughout the month of October.
When it comes to creating imagery for the spooky season, it's more than photographers throwing in costumes and props. With any great image or series of images, there are key components which have to be present, regardless of the concept or theme. For starters, you need a skilled photographer, an experienced model and a unique and creative idea.
As most photographers know, one of the most important things about shooting the male form, especially for Halloween, is darkness and light. Light is always essential when shooting, but for Halloween themed shots, the light is crucial in creating that eerie and spooky mood so associated with the season.
We all watched television shows when we were kids that tried to set a creepy and scary tone. We all remember scenes with The Hardy Boys or Jessica Fletcher, walking through a dark room or cavern with only a flashlight to guide the way. Film and television shows however, have the added bonus of being able to use music. With photography, the lighting is the music, setting that sinister tone.
Although terror isn't limited to the night, for most of us, our darkest moments occur in the absence of light. Sure, running into Jason Voorhees would be terrifying regardless of whether it was the three o'clock in the morning, or three o'clock in the afternoon. Still, the darkness creates a more ominous feel as nothing good rarely happens after midnight...
Of course whether it's a movie or a photograph, you can't shoot in complete darkness, it's the light, that really heightens the impact of the dark. The shimmering moonlight, the flashlight rays, the fragments of light shining through the cracks under the door as you shiver in fear from what whatever beast awaits on the other side of the door.
When I was thinking of a series of images to kick off the spooky season, I knew these shots of Jordan, (Peaks & Cheeks) from Jim from Studio1x would be perfect. I first featured images from this shoot with Jim and Jordan earlier this year, (HERE:) but tucked away this series of shots to use later.
Jordan and Jim were shooting in a very small hotel room, with limited time to get everything they wanted. They made excellent use of both their time, and the space, capturing several different looks and themes using almost every corner and are of the small room. In the first piece, Jim shot Jordan in in a variety of locations including the shower. They also shot in front of the large window, utilizing light and shadow to accentuate Jordan's perfect physique.
For this series of shots, they set an entirely different tone, using just a old fashioned looking wire lamp to cascade light over Jordan's body and skin. I loved the effect the prop created and the distinctly different look and feel to the previous parts of the shoot. There is something eerie, almost foreboding about the shots, almost as if Jordon is hiding from something, looking for something, or waiting for something horrific on the horizon.
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