I believe that in photography and post production, not everything has to be practical. Sometimes, I just want to have a little fun, and maybe break out of a creative rut! That’s why I enjoy creating levitation (or fly away) images. And the good news is, it’s really not that difficult!
The most important thing to remember is to put your camera on a tripod and don’t move it! First, take a picture of your background.
Next, you’ll want to add your subject, raised by whatever means you have. I used a crate, but you can also use a ladder, a trampoline, another person or whatever you have handy.
That’s really the only 2 shots you absolutely MUST have. The rest is done in Photoshop. You’ll want to open both images together in PS with the image of your subject on top. Then create a mask on the top image (of your subject) and paint out the crate (or ladder) with a paintbrush set to black (make sure opacity and flow are set to 100%). Then, watch the “levitation” happen! Your subject is suddenly floating away!
Below is the final image. I also added a sky and made a few other creative tweaks to finish it off.
Below is an example of another image I made using the same technique.
What will I do with these images? Probably not much. But I enjoyed the process and the results are fun! So if you’re feeling like you are in a creative rut, maybe try something fun and frivolous like a levitation photo!