Levitation photography is a fascinating subject. Mostly because there are a million different ways to do it. A small setup for toys would be different than for an adult human. Likewise, location and studio can also require very different tactics.
In this video, Camera Club Live walks us through the process of photographing still-life fruit. Except, it’s still-life with a difference. It’s levitating in the air and casting real shadows below it.
Levitation – Casting shadows the easy way
One of the biggest difficulties with levitation photography is shadows. As your subject doesn’t actually levitate, you need to prop them up with things. The shadows form those things can destroy your image. Even if you’re able to remove those shadows entirely, that doesn’t guarantee a good image.
Creating a believable shadow from your real subject is just as difficult if not more so, than removing shadows you don’t want. The method shown in the video isn’t going to be applicable to all subjects, but it uses glass.
A sheet of glass allows the objects to cast shadows as normal on a surface once placed on it. We also get a good photograph of the object itself. This is called a clean plate.
Having a clean plate of the background, without the glass or any subjects, allows you to paint out and hide the glass underneath and around the subjects in Photoshop. The clean plate then shows through in these areas, giving the illusion of levitation.
No one set up to rule them all
When it comes to levitation photography, each tutorial and technique is just one more tool in your arsenal. There’s no single method that’s the best to use all the time, in every situation. Different methods lend themselves better to different subjects.
Perhaps you want to levitate a whole human. Having them stand on a piece of glass several feet in the air isn’t exactly going to be safe. And what if you don’t want them standing? A flat piece of glass may not be very comfortable.
Or perhaps you want to have several items levitating at different heights. Perhaps, then, you might need to build a custom rig to hang each item on individual threads.
Glass is a good option, though, especially if you want that realistic shadow without spending too much time in Photoshop!
