When there’s an event posted on Facebook called Witch Photo Day, curiosity is piqued, to say the least, even though Halloween is just around the corner.
Ellen Litvinova decided to bring her European perspective to Prince George residents through her photography where people in the mainstream are encouraged to venture out of their comfort zone and into her costume closet.
Ellen has explored her creativity through her photography for about five years and moved to Prince George two years ago, bringing some European flavour to outdoorsy Prince George.
When it’s Halloween season, nature and a little magic go hand-in-hand so when people reached out to Ellen about Witch Photo Day, the photo shoot ended up needing a bit more privacy than what is offered at Cottonwood Island Park so away the group went to do the shoot at West Lake as the four participants wished it to be a boudoir event.
Ellen said she usually takes photos at weddings, for engagements, family photos and keeps it family-friendly or risqué, depending on what the client’s needs are. She’s good with it all and will gently guide a client if they are unsure of what they would like to do, offering glimpses of photos she’s done before that can provide inspiration if the client doesn’t really know what they want other than an image captured to look back on in years to come.
“Halloween photography is kind of new to me and it’s so much fun,” Ellen said.
Witch Photo Day ended up an event where Ellen brought along a friend that does hair and makeup and Ellen brought costumes and props. They made a day of it and then ended up chatting at the end of it talking about favourite Halloween movies.
Ellen said it was a great way to get into the spirit of Halloween and people shared a lot of ideas of how they will celebrate on Halloween.
“I think my experience comes into play when I have a client that is a little bit shy,” Ellen said. “We will have a little talk and if they don’t have their own ideas about poses then I can give advice and then during the next photo shoot they usually bring their own ideas to me. If I see a couple that’s a bit uncomfortable I will talk to them about how other couple’s would pose and that helps people make a decision on what they would like to do.”
Ellen has a beautiful photo on her Facebook page that sees a woman in a cape that is opening a box in a forest, there is magic coming from the box to enhance the Halloween mystery and she uses Photoshop for that.
“Some people like the photos as they are with the focus on nature and the forest and some people like them with a little magic added,” Ellen laughed. “It’s the client’s decision on what they’d like included in the photos. Everyone likes magic at Halloween and we all need a little magic in our lives.”
Check out Ellen’s photography at www.facebook.com/ellenphotographerbc
