Remember Halloween long after its gone with pictures and scrapbooks. Knowing how to use your digital camera and how to get just the right shot makes the difference between sharing your photographs or deleteing them off the camera.

Here are some top 10 tips of taking great Halloween pictures.

1. Tell a story. Take plenty of pictures of getting ready. The transformation of your little princess into a Butterfly is priceless. Keep your camera handy, you never know when a great shot will present itself.
2. Watch out for flash reflections. Be aware of your background. Windows, mirrors, TVs and shiny surfaces can reflect the flash back at you.
3. Move in close. Cut the clutter and focus in on your subject. Fill your view finder with the close up of your subject. Check your camera’s manual to see  what your close-up distance is. You may need to use the “flower” mode to get really close.
4. Stay within flash range. With digital cameras, it is typically with in 6-10 feet. Too close and your pictures area washed out. Too far away and your pictures will be too dark. Also, check your batteries, old batteries may not flash bright enough.
5. Act the part. Get your little goblin to act scary, your ballerina to pirouette, your baseball player to throw the ball and take some action shots.
6. Set the mood. Try a silhouette against the setting sky or a close up of your youngster peering into a jack o’lantern. Try some shots with your flash off and check your camera settings. Use a tripod to keep the camera steady in low light to avoid blurry pictures.
7. Set your camera for night light. Some cameras have a setting for night shots. Night portrait for close up shots and Night landscape for far away shots, settings or scenes.
8. Use Natural Light. Head out early and take some outdoor shots in the sun. As the sun is setting, you can avoid the squinting and get great shots. You may have to use the fill flash for cloudy days or to get better pictures close-in.
9. Getting great carved pumpkin shots. Carving a larger hole for the eyes or mouth will give you more light for the shot. Take the shot outside at dusk to illuminate the pumpkin better. Use your tripod and a longer time to get a steady picture.
10. Create a Ghostly picture. Set your camera time for 8 seconds and have your subject duck out of the picture at 5. This will create a double exposure making the image appear to be transparent. It might take a little experimenting to get it right.

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