Angela Jamison is a native Montanan and she grew up in beautiful Bozeman. I'm the mother of two girls and write a blog about our life here and taking in the simple pleasures of family and food.

The fun of Halloween is for everyone. It is different depending on what stage of life you are in, but always a good time. I remember enjoying it as a child, getting so excited to dress up and then having to completely change my costume because of the cold Montana weather. Covering my ballerina tutu or princess dress with a full-on snow suit so no one really knew what you were dressed up as. I remember sorting candy with my sisters at the end of the night, trading to get the best possible assortment. When I got a little older I remember going trick or treating with friends…carrying pillowcases to fill, getting skeptical looks at the door…knowing we were pushing the envelope of being trick or treating age appropriate. Halloween during the college years are appropriately a blur. Now, with my own kids I find their excitement for Halloween contagious. It’s a day about make believe and candy, what’s not to love?

How to have a happy Halloween, at any age…

1. Get a pumpkin. Carve it.

Maybe it’s been years since you’ve done this, but turning a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern is a sure way to get you into the spirit of things. Kids love it for obvious reasons. It’s the one time they’re allowed to play with knives and get ridiculously dirty scraping all the gunk out from inside. For them, it’s a chance to turn the pumpkin into something different. Freedom to do it how they want…scary, traditional, intricate, simple…there is no wrong face to put on a pumpkin. I have never had a Halloween go by that I didn’t carve a pumpkin. The years between my childhood and having children were still filled with this October activity. That’s the beauty of it, whether you are 6, 16, 26 and so on, it is fun. There is something so gratifying about digging the seeds out of a pumpkin. The smell alone the moment you cut into it brings out memories of childhood.

2. Decorations.

I’m not into going crazy with Halloween decorations as much as Target wants me to be. However, I have accumulated some over the years and slowly the Halloween box is becoming a thing to get excited about bringing out in October. Throughout the neighborhood I see people going all out with Halloween decor. Adults covering their front porches with spider webs, skeletons and fake tombstones. It all seems a bit dark but so fun at the same time. Kids love it because they like to be scared in this safe way. Knowing the blood and gore is creepy, but also realizing it’s just their silly neighbors having fun with this so not actually getting scared. I’m never going to be the person who creates a haunted house outside our door but I can appreciate what others are doing. Except on my dark early morning runs…I do not dig the glowing red eyes of a giant spider in someone’s yard when I’m not expecting it. Not at all.

3. Costumes.

Here’s what sets this day apart from other holidays. You get the chance to be someone or something else. A day to play make believe, to let your creativity or sense of humor soar. Each year we have a Halloween party with my entire family. From the youngest child to my parents - everyone dresses up. I sometimes think the adults enjoy this more than the kids (they just want the candy after all). Dreaming up the best costume and then showing it off. For kids they get to be their favorite super hero, princess or whatever their imagination dreams up. And, what fun to see what they come up with each year.

4. Trick or Treat.

For the youngsters trick or treating is the highlight of Halloween. They go door to door, simply say trick or treat and come home with more candy than they can carry. This is good stuff. Once you’re past the age of trick or treating you get to hand out the candy and see all the fun costumes. I do believe sometimes my kids enjoy handing out candy as much as they do the actual trick or treating. If you don’t have kids, or they have grown and gone handing out the candy can still be fun. Especially if you can give out the good stuff. Who doesn’t want to be known as the house that gives out the full size candy bars? We all remember and appreciate those houses. They are the best.

5. Getting your candy fix.

If you don’t have a sweet tooth, this will mean nothing to you. However, if you are the other 95% you get the excitement of all the perfectly wrapped little candies that end up in your kids trick or treat bags, at the office or leftover in your own candy bowl. Feel free to indulge. It’s only once a year. And…as a parent it is absolutely okay to steal your favorites out of your kids bag. Consider it one of the unspoken perks of parenthood. At our house no Twix is safe.

6. Take it all down on November 1st.

As soon Halloween is over I take down all signs of this day. As excited as I get about it I just as quickly get over it. Down come the spiders and witches. Away go the costumes. Come November there is no place for these things. November is the month of calm and gratitude before the big holiday season begins. Come down from your sugar high and enjoy the quiet.

Happy Halloween friends!

Jenna Caplette migrated from California to Montana in the early 1970s, first living on the Crow Indian reservation. A Healing Arts Practitioner, she owns Bozeman BodyTalk & Integrative Healthcare. She says, " Health is resiliency, a zest for the journey. It’s about coming awake to the joy of being alive. As a practitioner, its a privilege to facilitate that healing process, to help weave new patterns of health & well-being. “ And by the way, healthier, happier people help create a healthier, happier world. 

Have fun with your Halloween Photos

This Halloween, have fun with your images! Take close ups of costumes, focusing on details. Document highlights of what you see: the most impressive bag of gathered treats, the jack-o-lantern you carved, and the best decorated house or event.

Play with lighting a face or image from the bottom up, using the highly advanced technology of a flashlight to create a ghostly effect. If your camera has a wide-angle lens, get close to your subjects and have fun distorting them.

Experiment with camera angles and perspectives – take a shot from above, or one on your belly shooting up. Practice and play. Get close to your subject, fill the frame, and then back up. All the while, keep your central focus on his/her eyes.

As you look around your location, don’t forget to check what’s behind your shot to make sure it will not detract from your image. A kid with a streetlight sticking out the top of his or her head is memorable, but probably not in the way you want. Bright lights in the background, particularly when your subject is standing in subdued light or shade, can be distracting. On the other hand, bright light directly behind behind your subject can create a spooky-stark silhouette. Experiment and play!

For quick, quality shots, point and shoot cameras offer “Scene” modes that make it simpler to capture a variety of pictures. In contrast to “Auto” that chooses exposure and focus settings based on its best guess of what you are taking pictures of, “Scene” modes allow you to tell the camera what you kind of shots you want. The camera makes better creative decisions in “Scene” modes, and changes things you might forget like setting the white balance to match the shooting situation. Not all camera brands use the same names for modes but here’s a few ideas you can use to capture Halloween’s mood.

Some cameras have a Low Light mode to keep colors true and prevent noise when you shoot without a flash. But noise can also make an image feel spooky. Add it back in with a photo app like Snapseed.

Generally, Sports mode freezes subjects in motion, like kids walking up to the front door to trick-or-treat. Try Landscape mode for a group of trick-or-treaters strung out along a sidewalk in the afternoon.

The easiest environment to get great Halloween photographs is somewhere everyone feels relaxed and their focus is not on you, like when they are hanging out with friends and negotiating where to trick or treat next. People in costume often like posing for pictures but just the same, take your images in quick succession before the moment fades.

Using a telephoto lens to capture the action allows everyone in the shot to keep their focus on whatever they are doing, not on you and your camera. It helps to separate your subjects from the background of your image, bringing them close to you, and blurs the background, leaving no question as to what the image is about. Or blur the background by using Portrait mode.

After dark, look for and experiment with a Night Portrait mode. It takes a longer exposure of the background to capture some of the ambient light, and then fires the flash just the right amount to capture your subject in full, sharp color that matches the lighting of the scene.

Using your iPhone? For low-light shots activate HDR and see if you like the effect.

There are so many great photo editing apps, have fun and relive the memories after Halloween by creatively editing your favorite shots. Then, create and print a photo collage of them all to display on your wall like a poster.

Oh, and if Montana’s traditional Halloween snowstorm blows in, head on out, camera in hand. Adverse weather conditions offer an opportunity to take unusual photographs -- autumn leaves swirl at your subject’s feet, their hair blows, or snow frosts their eye lashes. These details don’t detract from your photo – they enhance it. Just be sure to keep your camera dry.