Spooktober: Three tips for planning your next big project

Happy Halloween! As the final blog for October, I felt it was only right to make a Halloween-themed post, so this week we are talking about all things Spooktober with some tips on planning your own big project. If you’re wondering what Spooktober is, it is a series I do over on my social media where I create Halloween-themed photoshoots for the month. I decide the concepts, styling, direction and occasionally get in front of the lens myself! Spooktober isn’t a new thing but as this is my second year of participating, it’s still new to me. That being said, I have learnt a lot in the two years I have done so far.

Before we begin, you can find all of this year's Spooktober series on my Instagram including behind the scenes reels and easy, budget friendly photoshoot ideas if you’re looking for something fun to do this Halloween!

Now that we’ve cleared up what Spooktober actually is, you might be questioning why I do it. Some people find it very gimmicky and cheesy and I agree that occasionally it can be exactly that. However, I think in some ways that is the beauty of it! Sometimes, you just want to have fun, throw a pumpkin on your head and get some cute photos, not everything you create needs to have a deep meaning behind it or be extraordinarily creative. On the other hand, it’s not always cheesy, in fact, some of my best, most creative work comes from getting involved in Spooktober.

So why do I do Spooktober? I use this month to really push myself creatively and challenge myself to move away from my comfort zone. I get to try new things, work with new people and new locations, and take control of every aspect of the project. There are times as a photographer where you don’t always get to do things your way, so I take this month as an opportunity to create work that I enjoy creating and sharing with my audience. October is one of few times of the year where I feel I can create and photograph purely for the joy and love of creating. It can be extremely hard to maintain your enthusiasm when something you love becomes your business or a way to make extra income, and days, weeks or months like October/Spooktober are a great way to keep the creativity flowing.

In my first year of Spooktober, I shot five concepts inspired by social media trends, music, folklore, psychology and movies; one of which was a self portrait series that I will go into more detail on next month! This year, I doubled the amount of shoots and half of them became self-portraits, so I definitely became more comfortable with photographing myself this month. The concepts this year were more out-of-the-box with a couple of traditional Halloween shoots. I noticed that this year, a lot of the concepts didn’t come from outside inspiration, but rather my own brain, which I think proves just how valuable these fun-themed months can actually be in terms of your own creativity.

If you’re wanting to have a go at your own Spooktober or a project similar, whatever creative field you’re in (or even if you just want to try something festive for Halloween season), here are my top three tips for planning your next big project:

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1. Plan far in advance

I start planning what concepts I would like to create for October in August and shoot throughout September. Arguably, this is still leaving it a little last minute but it’s workable. You want to have your work ready to share at least a few days to a week before the deadline of your project. A lot of people question why I shoot Halloween work in September, but it’s about getting ahead and having the images ready to share, rather than scrambling throughout October to have everything ready the day after the shoot. Instead, I am starting to think about using October to get ahead for next year’s Spooktober!

Ideally, you want to have your ideas planned out two-three months before your project deadline, and have everything ready to go 3-5 days before launch. If your business, hobby or artform involves physically making products, you might want to think about starting this even earlier, especially if you plan to sell the products. Small businesses start selling their autumn and Halloween collections as early as mid-late July.

2. You don’t need to spend a lot of money

There are of course amazing creatives out there who have the budget to go all out for these kinds of events and if I had the budget, I would go crazy too! However, my current situation means I am not able to spend tons of money on props, costumes, production team etc. etc; but that doesn’t stop me from going all out! Almost all of my photoshoots can be created with items already in the home or are low cost, and there are some great alternatives to continuous studio lights.

Don’t worry if you don’t have an extravagant set up or materials for your project, if your concept or idea is strong then your hard work will be appreciated. I find it so inspiring to see what other creatives produce on low budgets and simple set ups! For photographers specifically, there are even companies across the UK that hold photoshoot events tailored to a specific theme, that you can attend whether you’re an amateur or seasoned professional.

These do of course require a fee which ranges in price depending on the company, but it might be worth considering when you think about the location, the models, the concepts and the wardrobe that you get for that fee. If you can find an event hosting a concept you’re desperate to create, it is worth deciding if it is more cost effective to do it yourself, or if you’re financially able to, pay a fee and just turn up and shoot!

3. Schedule your social media posts in advance

If there is one tip you take away from this, let this be it. Scheduling my social media posts has changed my life, and for once I’m not being dramatic. I currently use the meta business suite to schedule my Facebook and Instagram posts, and use a Google sheet calendar to plan out all of my content for the month. I schedule as much as I can within the business suite so I don’t need to be on my phone or specifically, scrolling social media for hours and days on end.

There are certain types of content you can’t schedule through the suite such as reels and Tiktoks but having a majority of the content ready to go removes so much pressure from your shoulders. Projects like Spooktober can take a huge toll on your health, so having posts scheduled allows you to leave social media or turn off your phone without the worry that you will miss your upload. If this is something people are interested in learning more about, let me know and I can do a blog on it! Scheduling my content has definitely improved my relationship with social media.

If you have been following along with this year’s Spooktober over on my socials, I hope you have enjoyed this month as much as I did creating the concepts! If this has inspired you to give Spooktober a go, I look forward to seeing your work next year. Have a great day if you’re celebrating Halloween, stay safe, have fun, and get spooky!