It’s Day 2 in this week’s Photography Focus Challenge. I hope you accepted yesterday’s challenge from our fabulous Polly Courtney and tried to put your gorgeous self in a photo. Don’t be shy…you know you look good! Today, we’re going to kick things up a notch and have some fun with forced perspective photography. Now, I know what you’re thinking – “What the heck is that? It sounds hard.” It may sound hard, but it’s super easy. Forced Perspective is a technique which creates an optical illusion by making objects appear either father away, closer together, larger, or smaller than they are. In filmmaking, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit used this technique to trick the viewers into perceiving the Hobbits and dwarves as being much smaller than the actors were in real life. They also used this technique in Harry Potter to make the character Hagrid, who is supposed to be an 8’6 giant, tower over the other movie characters when played by Robbie Coltrane, a 6’1 actor. Whether you’ve realized it or not, you’ve probably seen forced perspective/“optical illusion” photographs floating around online. You know the ones I mean – the woman holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa… OR the giant man eating a tiny person… OR the boy with the giant feet. Now you're getting the idea! It’s all just an illusion based upon the camera’s perspective. Obviously, this boy isn’t holding up his dad in his hand. And this lady isn’t balancing on the top of a drink bottle. And this one…well, it’s just my favorite of them all! If I haven’t convinced you yet how super easy this is, just look at the layout below. I know the pictures are grainy and kind of blurry, but it’s a great memory for me of my then-9-year-old son’s creativity. We were goofing around with my phone in the bathroom one night, and he came up with the idea of his head getting squished by giant thumbs. Because of the angle that he held the phone, his head looks much smaller than his thumbs (i.e. forced perspective). This challenge was a great time to scrap these pics. Let’s see what you wonderfully creative peeps can come up with. Get your kids, significant other, BFF, or pets involved. If you want to fly solo, set the self-timer on your camera or phone. Get creative with using your hands (think hand puppets). There are a ton of ideas online if want a jumping off point. The only rule to this challenge is that your photograph just needs to show some type of forced perspective. I can’t wait to see your fabulous gallery creations! Please follow The Lilypad Gallery Guidelines: Layouts must contain at least 50% TLP products (current or retired products from current designers). Templates count as 15%. Uploads must be less than 250k. List all credits. No off-site linking allowed.
This looks like fun!!! I especially love the last photo, too! One question for you, Margaret. Do the photos need to be new for this challenge, or can they be ones from our stash? I've a lot of these that I've taken already, so that's why I'm asking. Thanks!
The photos don't have to be new; only the layout. My son took the pics on my layout back in 2013 when he was 9, and I had been holding onto them until I scrapped the layout last night. Who knows...maybe you're feeling adventurous and want to do 2 layouts (one with new pics and one with old pics)? Haha... I'm so glad you're going to play along. I can't wait to see what you do!
I totally understand the "how" but really can't think of what to do so I dig through my stash and found this really neat photo from our vacation last year. My daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter was parasailing. We were on boat and the photographer did this really neat shot.
That's PERFECT, Debbie! Spot on (and also hilarious)! I'd love to see you do a layout with it. Keep an eye out on Friday's new releases. I think you'll find a few new kits that would be a fantastic match with this pic. Thanks so, so much for sharing!
Thanks Margaret, I have several that was taken and just have not scrapped them yet. I will have to check on Friday and see what I can find.
ohhh I ll have to find photos or try take new!!!!!! LOVE the challenge!!!!!!! @rdjrneace that is an awesome photo great page!!!!!!!! if you say you have more photos from that trip, can't wait to see more in the gallery!!!!! (or here LOL)
@MrsPeel @KarenB I hope you try it. It's a lot of fun. Harrison and I have been coming up with different ideas of taking pics on a big grassy hill we have in our backyard. The height difference is perfect for someone doing something at the top and someone at the bottom. I love all the ideas online too. Some people are ridiculously creative.
Well... I tried taking a photo after browsing thru the web for some more ideas. Came up with a game plan but DH was not very cooperative. He tolerated 2 photos, and that was about it. Neither photo is very good, so I am back to ground zero. It is a bit hard sometimes to get cooperation in a photo shoot when it is just the two of you and one is a curmudgeon.
@mcurtt A+ for effort, Marilyn. Hubby can be stinkers sometimes, huh? At least he did 2 pics. Good for him! I took some forced perspective pics at my desk at work (yes, I know I SHOULD have been working) by pinching my lamp between my thumb and index fingers while holding my phone out. It made the lamp seem really tiny & far away, while my hand seemed really big. It's funny how simple things can get skewed when viewed through a different lens. I'd keep trying. You may hit on something you love.
I keep trying to get my shot just right!! If I can get what I see in my head to happen on the screen I'll be so happy!!
