Zombie Pumpkins!

Having carved pumpkins pretty much my entire life, it's easy to take the techniques for granted, assuming people know how to do this. But clearly some information is needed, and so the Incredible Instructions page is ready to serve. Now with 75% more photos!

Very nice! I can see why this took a bit longer to get up

The photo shoot alone took up a whole day... working simultaneously as carver, photographer AND model.

Lots of updates. Just noticed today the shocking shop offers a pumpkin carving tool with an orange handle very nice. Galleries are back up. Downloads are back up. Everything looks great you've been busy.

woah that must have taken ages! Love the rubber ducky!

I didn't know about soft light on the pumpkin (to show the flesh) and strong light inside, I thought it would come out better in the dark! Will try that this year, thanks Ryan!

Very nice! No wonder you've been quiet! I wish I'd known about the orange handled tool, I would have snapped one up for the missus with ym shirt order! There's always next year

Zombie Pumpkins! wrote:The photo shoot alone took up a whole day... working simultaneously as carver, photographer AND model.

Geez I bet! Excellent job though!

The site is looking freaking fantastic. I am sporting a new desktop wallpaper now

Great pictures and a lovely manicure.

Fantastic carving DEMONstration

Did you carve him twice or where the poking holes for illustration only?

I love the duck too[/b]

Great job on the Instructions page Ryan! What's great about the tutorial is people can' literally' see what steps to do in carving their by clicking on the highlighted sentences, the photos are excellent (nice hands) and like my highschool english teacher said, " short but to the point!"

I like the tips about lighting and photography. From what I can recall, I don't remember anyone giving advice about these two important things when proudly displaying your kins. I will keep those two in mind for this year. Thanks Ryan!

So excited about the instruction page being up. It will make for a great pre-read to my pumpkin carving lesson for my friends haha

Excellent instructions! I like how you understand your pumpkin's need for bath toys.

punchi wrote:Excellent instructions! I like how you understand your pumpkin's need for bath toys.

...

& fluffy towels to dry off in,
Hmm zombie pumpkin beach towels! ..now theres a thought!

Just checked out the instructions, nicely done. It's nice to get a refresher before I start carving!
I like the ducky too!

nosferatu wrote:Great pictures and a lovely manicure.

Perhaps the nails could have used a slight trim. They were looking quite orange by the time I was done with this process. So was the shutter release button on my camera.

nosferatu wrote:Did you carve him twice or where the poking holes for illustration only?

I did the hole poking on the back of the pumpkin, just for demonstration. Then I did Saral transfer paper on the proper front side, for the actual carve.

There are plenty of unused photos too. I took several hundred, and worked from a typed up 250-image shot list that included just about every step possibly involved with pumpkin carving. So if anyone asks me how to do something, I'll have photo reference to share.

I thought I'd use the Frankenstein Monster for this demo carve because he's a classic... not only as an iconic monster, but also as a pattern on this site. He's been a popular carve here almost since the start. Plus, it didn't hurt that the design isn't too complicated either.

hkzombie wrote:I like the tips about lighting and photography. From what I can recall, I don't remember anyone giving advice about these two important things when proudly displaying your kins.

I could have gone into greater detail, but like you said... short and to the point. Hopefully these general tips will lead to better photos submitted to the gallery here. My mind goes a bit numb after sorting and approving hundreds of poorly lit pumpkin photos taken with cell phone cameras.