The Levitation Photo
If you know me, then you definitely know that I'm a major show off. I like to think I don't just immediately start talking about my photography, but whenever someone else mentions it, then I can't shut up.
Well, when I show off my work, everyone always stops me on the levitation photos and asks "WHOA, how'd you do that?" Well, it's been asked enough times that I feel that it's time to write a blog post about it!
The Shoot
Okay, so the first step was to pick a location. I had only shot at this location once before, like 7 years before. So Jade had to deal with me trying to remember where it was the day of the shoot (bless her for her patience), but eventually we found it and made out way back there.
After we found the location, then it was time to set up the shot. I picked an angle and placed the chair and then asked Jade to lay back on the chair.
No, I was not playing with my phone while on this shoot. I was triggering the camera shutter with my phone (yay technology), and that's why I look all silly in the above photo! In the photos below, you can see how I was flipping up the dress and shooting the photo at the same time. I didn't care that I was going to be in the shot, as it would be very easy to remove myself in post.
Okay, so the dress had been flipped up, but that wasn't enough. Her hair needed to be flipped up to complete the illusion that she was floating. The reason I knew this was that I have shot a levitation photo before, and forgetting to flip the hair up always bothered me.
There's one for the bloopers
It looks like she's trying to take a really uncomfortable nap and that I'm trying to sneak up on her
So we finished taking the photos we needed, which only took about 10 minutes. Then I needed to grab a quick photo with nothing at all, to help me remove things in post. I shoot this photo last, because I want the lighting to match the rest of the photos. If I shot this photo before all of the rest, then more time would have passed between them because I spent about 20 minutes setting everything else up and practicing... if that even makes sense.
Photoshop
Finally, the editing. To me, editing is the second most important part of photography, second only to proper lighting. Coincidentally, it is also where photographers spend 97% of their time... so when you question why they charge so much... now you know. Anyway, I'll explain each step.
First time, was importing all of the different photos and aligning the layers, because the camera moved every so slightly during the shoot.
Next step was to combine the images that I liked, the hand, the hair, and the dress flip, into one photo.
Then, I removed any traces of me and my shadows, and then the chair.
Here I raised the tree-line in the back (you probably didn't even notice did you?) and then I added a lens flare.
Finally some curves, levels adjustments, sharpening and voila!
The Result
So there you have it! Now you all know exactly how I shot this photo, and I can link someone to this blog entry if they ask me in the future! Anyway, a huge thanks to Jade for being patient with me while I flipped her hair and clothes all over the place! Here is her facebook page, be sure to check it out and hit the like button!