Taking Halloween Photos with Jack-o-Lantern Smoke Bombs

Smoke bombs have been around for a while.  They are commonly used for gender reveal parties and photographers use them for all sorts of fun effects.  But have you ever considered using one inside a carved jack-o-lantern for the perfect Halloween photo?  Well, the Harris Sisters recently did just that and have all the info you might need to recreate these magical photos for yourself at home.  Keep reading for all the details. 

Finding Smoke Bombs

Once you decide to give these smoke bomb photos a go, the first step is finding smoke bombs to purchase.  They are available online from a variety of vendors.  We purchased ours from Smoke Effect.  What I liked about their smoke bombs is that they come in a variety of sizes and colors.  And they are all activated with a simple pull-ring, meaning you don't have to light them.  The smallest smoke bombs burn for about 30 seconds, while the largest ones burn for about 90 seconds.  I purchased a few small ones to use as testers and then several 90 second smoke bombs to use in our actual photos.  The Smoke Effect has a smoke quiz you can take to tell you exactly what you will need to produce your desired effect, and they offer a 10 percent discount to new customers.  Just make sure you order your smoke bombs far enough in advance to account for shipping time.  Mine arrived quickly once they shipped. But since we are approaching Halloween time, now would be the time to purchase them if you are wanting to try your hand at smoke bomb jack-o-lantern photos. 

Prepping for Your Photos

For Jack-o-lantern smoke bombs photos, you will to first need to carve a pumpkin.  It needs to be a real pumpkin, not a foam one, since you will be putting the smoke bomb inside.  Whatever design you choose, make sure it has large openings that the smoke can escape from.  

You will absolutely need to take these photos outside.  Smoke bombs produce quite a bit of smoke, and some smell as well.  Since you will be taking these photos outside, you will want to check your weather conditions first.  Windy days would probably make taking these photos more difficult.  We chose a mostly sunny and fairly calm day to take these pics.  And we waited until the early evening so it wasn't quite so bright out- making the smoke the star of the show. 

What to Wear for a Jack-o-lantern Photo Shoot

The sky is the limit here.  If you have a Halloween costume ready to go, that would be a great place to start! Or if you want to be a little more subtle, you could opt to wear something in traditional Halloween colors or patterns.  From what I read before taking these photos, a few people mentioned being careful about what you chose to wear in case the colored smoke stained your clothing.  However, we didn't find that to be an issue.  Even still, I probably wouldn't wear my most prized possessions, just in case. 

Ready, Set, Shoot

Once you are all set and ready to start taking your photos, I would recommend that you have a few extra hands on deck.  We had one person hold the pumpkin with the lid off, while a second person activated the smoke bomb and sat it inside the pumpkin.  The first person quickly put the lid of the jack-o-lantern back in place (This step is essential, so the smoke is forced out of the carved openings on the front of the jack-o-lantern, and doesn't just escape through the top), and a third person started taking photos.  We used a couple 30 second smoke bombs to test this process and make sure we knew what we were doing before we started into taking our "real" photos.  Once we had the rhythm down, we used our first 90 second smoke bomb for our first set of actual photos. 

As soon as the smoke bomb is activated, things will happen quickly.  I would highly recommend that you set your camera to a high speed continuous shoot setting.  That way you can just click away and capture everything.  Ninety seconds is actually much longer than it sounds like.  You have more than a plenty time to get photos.  So don't worry if the smoke isn't cooperating the entire time.  Have the person holding the pumpkin gently move it around, and the smoke will move with it.  The photographer should be the one moving and let the subject mostly stay in one position. 

Other Helpful Tips

As a precaution, we kept water close at hand just in case we needed to douse our smoking pumpkin at any point.  We actually didn't need to, and we didn't think we would.  But it doesn't hurt to be careful.  These smoke bombs are a step or two up from sparklers.  They create a really dramatic effect but they are pretty harmless.   We did use a pair of tongs to take the used smoke bombs out of the pumpkin before inserting a new one. 

We used the same jack-o-lantern several times with several different smoke colors.  If you are doing the same, we would recommend that you start with your lightest color smoke first and move to darker smokes, until you end with your darkest.  The smoke bombs will stain the pumpkin, which actually creates a pretty cool effect itself.  But if you want to be able to see each color smoke properly, you would definitely want to start with your lightest.  

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised by how easy of a process this turned out to be.  And we ended up with some pretty cool pictures, and some pretty funny outtakes too.  If you decide to try this photo trend, please let us know.  We would love to see how your photos turn out too! 

Happy Halloween from The Harris Sisters