Check out some of the fun costumes at our Halloween party this year!

The Legend of “Stingy Jack” (via www.history.com)

People have been making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack-o’-lanterns.

Here at Lew Robertson Photography, we specialize in food and beverage, so you might be thinking, how did this shoot come about? Well here’s what happened…

Steph Fowler is a freelance photo editor and art director here at the studio, and one day, while she was taking a little break from editing, she was surfing the internet for a duvet cover and a few other little things. Lew, who sits nearby says, “what are you shopping for”? She says, “My niece just moved into a new place and I want to get her a few things for her new room.” Those of us around the studio know that Steph and her niece, Hailey have a really close bond. About a half hour later, Lew says, “can we turn this into a shoot?” So that’s how the room makeover started.

Steph and Hailey first decided on the colors, gray and yellow. From there a pinterest board was born. Alicia Buszczak, who is an amazing stylist was at the studio one day and heard about the project. She generously donated her time and creativity to the makeover. There are several other awesome people who helped to make this happen, Chrissy Cassidy, Alicia Peterson, Jennifer Bachelder from Main Street Cakes and Jack Quinn.

Here is Hailey in her room before the makeover.

And here is the after!

Here are Hailey and her friends getting started!

Some room details

Hailey and her awesome chalkboard wall!

Some cool details of her bookshelf.

A very happy Hailey and her dog Debo!

We celebrated Halloween here at the studio on Saturday night along with the crew at MagicBullet Media. We put up the big screen and watched Halloween (so scary!), lots of treats, jello shots with gummy worms, yummy spinach artichoke dip, pizza and popcorn, and of course tons of candy! Lew also set up a backdrop for photos. Check out some of our fun costumes! We hope you have a great Halloween!

To see more photos click HERE.