Halloween At The Carolands Mansion

1/4 second, F 6.4, ISO 800, 6:33 PM.

The Carolands Chateau is a 46,050-square-foot, 4.5 floor, 98 room mansion on 5.83 acres in Hillsborough, California. While not generally open to the public, the thrown a major Halloween party the features animatronic ghouls, a light show on the mansion's walls, and a entertainers such as this unicycle-riding juggler. It's like an inside-out haunted house. 

Carolands Mansion, Halloween 2019

I photographed the event in 2019, so I wasn't surprised by what I found. That photo ran on the front page of the paper, and even through this two-year absence, many of the volunteers recognized me, and remembered the photograph. I was working alone that night, and relied on a shoe-mounted flash to get the two-level (background and foreground) lighting effect. In the original image, the foreground was a bit overexposed, a on-camera flash giveaway. This year 

projectors were used to create a green spider-web pattern on the cobblestones. I also brought a light stand to hold a radio-triggered speedlight about 10' off the ground. This, coupled with a flash-to-subject (FTS) distance of about 15'. This minimized the difference in distance between the foreground and the main subject, making the exposure difference between the two regions minimal.

1/180 second, F 8.0, ISO 200, 5:36 PM.

Squid Games: A number of youngsters donned their best Squid Games outfits and led other children in a squid game of their own. I needed to make an "ice breaker" photograph, so I arranged the players in a quick 2-line composition. Using a FTS distance of about 8', a reasonable ISO and full output from my flash, I was able to balance the clouds in the background with my subjects. Notice that the transition from the lower edge of the photo to my subject's feet is a gentle one, and doesn't shout "flash" as would be heard if the flash was on-camera.

1/2 second, F 6.4, ISO 1600, 6:40 PM.

The light show was spectacular this year. The images refreshed every few minutes, changing from this collage of ghostly images...

1/4 second, F 5.6, ISO 3200, 6:46 PM.

...to this cascade of digital skulls. As I mentioned, the green web flooring was new, and I must say, the effect was total. 

All exposures 1/4 second, F 6.4, ISO 800.

The Challenge: These four photos were taken in a period of one minute. I convinced the Juggler to hover within a small footprint to keep the subject to flash distance constant. I had to ask him to just hold the illuminated balls because they caused streaking when they were in motion. I chose to take the series while moving from group to group, so I had no control over which images were being projected on the mansion. I would have loved either of the two samples in the post, but you take what you can get, and try to inconvenience as few people as possible.

Rear Curtain Flash Synchronization: This is the default synchronization setting for all of cameras that have that option, which is nearly all. RCFS triggers the flash at the end of the exposure, which is particularly important when working with long exposures and moving subjects. When so adjusted, a moving subject will be flash-lit at the end of the exposure, thus preventing objectional image smearing. Even if you're not sure what it does, select RCFS, if for no other reason that you won't notice any difference with your plain-Jane, flash-supplemented exposures. But if you ever have to photograph a unicycle-riding juggler at twilight, you'll thank me.