Forced perspective photography always incorporates the optical illusion aspect. This can be seen through photographs of people on a beach trying to catch the sun in their palms, or the most common one – the one where they try to support the leaning Tower of Pisa. And you can make more of the same if you master your creativity by learning that perfect knack.
This technique goes well with photo manipulation services as the photography itself produces the expected results so that the post-production is less heavy. This type of photography is better suited to movie filming, creative shoots, architecture shoots, etc. And this is why it’s not suited for commercial or fashion photography retouching.
Several image editing services do provide manipulative effects, but the real success lies in how you master this photography technique. It craftily defies logic, brings elemental cohesion, and majorly plays with the subject’s or object’s scales. The optical illusion factor simply deceives the spectators’ eyes by making it look real.
How about we learn some forced perspective photography tricks so that you can shoot stunning, and logically impossible, yet real photos?
Alright, then, let’s get on it right away.
Before we get on with the tips, the key to this type of photography is all about how well you use your creativity and imagination to perfectly blend the environment and subject in your photos. Without a solid foundation on these, your composition will lack the “wow” factor it deserves. So now all that is cleared, we’re ready to hit the tricks.
Plan Your Shots
Always visualize and plan your shots before the shooting schedule. It will help you get into the zone to properly execute the shots. So it is crucial to carry out an ample and well-planned prep session.
Do good research on this type of photography so that you get quality references for practising and learn the shot technicalities. It will also help you figure out the ideal surroundings for the shoot, especially good, large open fields where natural or sunlight is plenty. This will also help you plan the ideal concept that doesn’t need much image editing services’ help.
Have an idea about the Poses
The distance and angle between the subject and object are key to strike ideal poses, to achieve that blended effect in the frame. You can also slightly tweak it in the post-production process using your photo manipulation services skills.
To hit big on social media with your images, you need to come up with unique poses, and how you creatively utilize the props. For this too, you can seek the help of online photography platforms to get yourself massively inspired for your project.
Diversify Your Composition
With excellent research, you can come up with stellar concepts that will bring out unique compositions. So always have your compositions vividly visualized in your mind. After that, place your subjects and objects at ideal locations with steady yet slow camera movement, until you achieve the connected effect between your subject and props. Tripods aren’t necessary for forced perspective photography, as your need for freedom to move around is more important. The subject that you have decided to be larger should always be placed closer to the camera, and the smaller one, far away from it.
Your shot compositions will be more effective and balanced if the camera’s digital grid line system is on and if you use the rule of thirds to perfectly align your elements in the frame. We highly recommend using this at all times.
High Zoom is Ideal
Use lenses that have a high zoom capacity for accessing the wide-angle and telephoto spectrums to give you more flexibility in choosing the areas of focus and to position your subjects. Wide lenses with focal lengths of 11mm – 16mm and not more than 35 mm are always ideal for this type of photography.
Post-production, if any, will only require a minimum of commercial retouching skills.
Higher Aperture Settings Are Better
Concentrate your focus on the area between your subjects with higher aperture settings to get that depth of field. Make sure the focus doesn’t turn out blurry when you zoom in on the shot image, according to the subjects’ scale that you want to be. Since you use high aperture settings, make sure there’s enough lighting in the field that will render an aesthetic and softer image with a narrow depth of field.
Ensure proper Lighting and Subject Focus
Commercial or fashion photography retouching is entirely different from forced perspective images, as it can rectify underlit and low focused images with a bit more flexibility. Although forced perspective images have to be well lit with a good focus, especially the primary element, or else it will not be impressive and will spike the bokeh effect that gives it a fake signature. Under lit and blurred images might pose a difficulty in post-production as it almost entirely depends on the shot technicalities. So always ensure good focus and perfect lighting for your main elements to achieve that optical illusion. You can add a bit of blur with the tilt-shift effect which will create a miniature effect in the background.
Experiment with Different Shot Angles
You have to try out various low or high angles to force your perspective in the photos. Place the camera firmly on the ground to shoot from a low angle for tall or high subjects t give it more depth and a towering presence with intensity. The background sky will give you more flexibility to adjust your composition to achieve your ideal perspective.
The other angle is just the opposite where you shoot from above, which is also known as a bird’s eye view. It can entirely capture your subject(s) with a descriptive aspect and perfectly blends your surroundings as well. Unlike the sky, the ground will be the backdrop in this angle so you would have to be extra careful while picking one, as it has to blend in perfectly.
Follow the above tips and have a lot of trial and error shots, subject positioning, angles, and in-depth experimenting to master your forced perspective photography skills. Gradually you’ll get in its flow state and you’’ be able to pull off and compose the best photos.
