Ghoul school

Who ya gonna call when ya wanna create a series of hoax-worthy pics? N-Photo's ghostbuster Mike Harris...

- Mike Harris

The Mission

Shoot and edit a chilling series of ghostly images

Time

– Four hours

Skill level

– Advanced

Kit needed

– Tripod

– LED light

– Standard lens

– Photoshop or similar editing software

Nowadays, there seems to be fewer images of real-life ghosts than ever before. And that’s arguably because the emergence of digital editing software, and more recently smartphone filters, has trained us to treat any photograph that doesn’t quite add up with an increasing degree of scepticism. And indeed, it’s never been easier to create convincing paranormal illusions.

So, this Halloween we’re going to show you how to create a spooktacular, spine-chilling series of ghostly portraits to freak out friends and family. We’ll begin by teaching you how to recreate a scene inspired by modern supernatural-horror classic The Ring (1998). By merging two exposures in Photoshop, you can effectively create the illusion of a horrific spectre crawling out of a television screen. Then we’ll show you how to quickly create a convincing apparition on location, before delving into a classic-looking portrait with an undead twist, à la The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Our penultimate project shows you how to record a ghost in your home, while our freaky final technique will help you create an unsettling close-up portrait that wouldn’t look out of place in a Paranormal Activity flick.