Halloween is coming up which means that all kinds of spooky and fall related activities are happening this month. Whether you’re planning out your costume or organizing a scary movie night with your friends, taking the ultimate picture is something you should definitely add to your to do list. Not only is carving a pumpkin to put on your head a super fun activity to do with your friends, it’ll make for a very memorable photo. Here’s a guide to taking the best pumpkin picture with your friends!

Find the right pumpkin

The most important part is finding a pumpkin that’s the right size for you. Bring your friends with you to your local supermarket or pumpkin patch and hold a pumpkin up next to your head. Have your friends help you make sure that it’s larger than your head both in length and in width by a few inches. We don’t want to cram the pumpkins onto our heads so you’re going to need a good amount of wiggle room.

Cut a hole and empty the insides

Make sure you have the appropriate tools for pumpkin carving — you’re going to need small knives or saws and a Sharpie. Using your Sharpie, draw a circle on the bottom of the pumpkin that is large enough to fit the diameter of your head. Cut out the circle and adjust the size if it needs to be bigger. You definitely don’t want to get your head stuck in a pumpkin so make sure it’s big enough to comfortably fit your head through. Then you can scoop out the seeds. Tip: you can clean the seeds and set them aside to dry if you want to turn them into a salty snack later!

Get creative: Carve a spooky face!

It’s time to let your creativity shine and carve out the spookiest face you can. You can either go right at it and wing it or you can use a Sharpie to draw out a face before carving it out. I love using Pinterest for inspiration, a YouTube tutorial for something a little more complex or even using templates from a local craft store. I would recommend trying to make the eyes line up as best as possible with where your eyes are, that way you’ll be able to see out of it.

Put it on your head and snap pics

Once you’ve carved out the face you’re ready to take some awesome pictures. For daylight pictures, I love going to a local pumpkin patch or finding a yellow grassy hill. It’s especially great if you’re the only ones there because the abandoned scarecrow vibes will make it a great photo. You can also take some very spooky pictures at night. Pose with your friends outside of a haunted house and take some spooky pics. Or you can find an area with a lot of trees and take some pictures with flash for a scarier effect. If you happen to have a film camera, these pictures tend to turn out very eerie and perfectly encapsulate the spooky Halloween vibe.

Pumpkin carving truly is the perfect indoor activity as the weather cools off, but putting it on your head makes it all the more interesting. Plus the unique pictures will make the perfect addition to your college photo wall!