If you think you need digital trickery to create awesome levitation photos, think again.

Programs like Photoshop have given rise to a new wave of amazing, unbelievable pictures that amateurs and professionals alike can design with just a few button presses. But while digitally manipulating photography may have opened up a whole new world in terms of what photographers can do after taking the shot, there are plenty of good old-fashioned real-world tricks out there that professionals have been using for decades to make us see what they want us to see in their photographs.

Want to know how you can use some of these low-tech magic in your own photos? Read on for seven tips that will make your photography soar (get it? – it’s a levitation joke) without you needing to shell out for expensive software.

Framing. It may sound too simple and easy to be true, but one of the best ways to give your subject the appearance of levitating is to frame and crop the photo creatively. For example, you could take a photo of someone being held a few inches off the ground, but only show them from the waist down. Instant levitation!

Wires. Movie and theatre productions have been using wires for years to create the illusion of jumping, falling, and flying. Modern crews – at least in film and video – have gotten used to simply digitally removing the wires in post-production, but there are ways to create the effect while setting up for the shot as well. One of the best is to simply camouflage the wires.

You can do this by purchasing wires to match your background, by painting the wires yourself, or by doing a combination of the two. This works great if you’re photographing a person in a black suit against a white background because the part that connects to the suit can be painted to match it, while the rest can match the background. Then all you have to worry about is keeping the shadows out of the shot!

Ladders, ledges, and boxes. As long as they are the same color as the background, ladders, ledges, and boxes can be amazing for levitation shots. All you need to do is position the subject and camera in such a way that removes any shadow and minimizes depth of field. In fact, this goes beyond these three very useful props to encompass pretty much any kind of object that matches your background and can avoid detection.

A particularly easy and useful technique is to make an invisible bed using two-to-four “legs” (these can be ladders, boxes, crates – really anything that will support a person’s weight) and then place a wood plank between them. If someone lays on the plank and you photograph it straight on, it will barely register in the photo and look as if your subject is just floating in the air. As always, matching the plank color to the background helps the effect.

Invisible assistant. This one is pretty much the same as the above tip except that it involves using a human being who has been camouflaged to blend in to the background perfectly. If you’ve ever seen those photographs or videos where people have painted themselves to match a wall pattern and become “invisible,” you’ve got the right idea.

The reason this deserves its own tip is because using a person as your “prop” allows for the subject to be put in all sorts of interesting positions. Obviously, this kind of photograph and the kinds mentioned in the previous tip can only be done in a controlled environment.

Other props. Of course, sometimes you can’t get the shot you want in a controlled environment, so the “chameleon” maneuver is out. But that doesn’t have to stop you. One great trick that professionals have used for years is to have someone stand on a stool or chair and then knock it out from under them just as they take the shot. If you get the timing exactly right, it will look as if the person is floating.

A common variation on this theme is having your subject grab onto a doorknob before you kick out the chair. This can make it look like they’re flying toward the door or falling away from it.



Jumping. Yes, that’s right – jumping. What could be simpler, right? Well, just like with the “kick out the prop” method, this one isn’t quite so straightforward. The problem in both of these methods is that you not only have to get the timing perfect (which could mean jumping so many times that your legs will ache and you’ll wish you had a trampoline), you have to minimize motion blur.

Part of this will have to be the responsibility of the person you’re photographing, because they have to do their best to hold a pose – even when they’re suddenly falling. The rest of the responsibility resides with you and your camera to make sure you’re using settings that will take a clear, stationary picture, despite the fact that your subject is in motion. Generally speaking, you want to use your camera’s sports mode or a high shutter speed to attain this effect.

Floating objects. Another simple but effective method that, yes, once again requires good timing, is to add other levitating objects to the shot to make it look cooler. Any of the above methods can be used, but there’s an even easier one: just toss them in.

That’s right, throwing or dropping objects into the shot can make for a really cool effect as long as you get the timing down. Some people have even been known to do things like toss in a hat so that it looks like it’s floating up off of a person’s head, or throw in shoes so that they seem to have lifted right off your subject’s feet. Naturally, getting those kinds of shots can take a lot of trial and error, but it’s also a lot of fun.

Overall, the thing you always want to remember is that photos are taken in two dimensions, so for the creative photographer, there are always ways to hide a prop. If playing with perspective and framing don’t work, try using billowy fabric. Above all, experiment – how do you think people came up with these methods in the first place?