Hi Pad Scrappers!
Polly Liana here with some fun levitation effects to try with your photography. When my daughter first tried on the garden fairy costume I made her for Halloween, she said, “Mom, can you figure out a way to make me look like I’m flying in a picture?” I was excited because I had always had a fascination with levitation photography.” Basically, it’s using special Photoshop effects to make it appear like your subject is floating or flying. It’s actually a lot easier than it looks! It’s important to note that this effect is most easily done by using Photoshop but there are probably other ways to accomplish this. Here’s how I did it:
First, set up a tripod, and plan on taking a wide shot with a preferably busy background (forests and trees are great for this!).
Set up your subject, standing on a chair or balancing on their stomach on the top of a ladder. It was helpful to get a chair that’s tall enough to lift the subject off the ground– makes it more believable. Put a fan on them if you want to create the illusion of flying and have them look up so their gaze leads the viewer’s eye up.
Focus on the subject and lock your focus. This is important because of the next step. Make sure there is a lot of space around your subject and that you can clearly see the ground below them.
After taking a few shots, leave the camera with locked focus on the tripod. Remove the subject and chair and then take another few shots of just the background.
In Photoshop, layer the subject photo over the background layer and make it 50 opacity so you can line up the shots perfectly. Then, use the masking tool to “remove” the chair or ladder by exposing the background.
Add your favorite action or photo treatment and that’s it!
Here’s another before and after levitation photo I did with my younger daughter. You can tell in both photos that I manipulated the feet/legs a bit to make them appear more believable.
Check out some other levitation photos that others have done. They’re fascinating!
Have a great end to your week,
Rikki says
That is the CUTEST idea ever! Love it, thank you!
Kitty says
what a great idea!!! I love this :)
Carol (Iowan) says
How fun, I will have to try this! Thanks for the idea.