We will want to take two photos with the camera in the exact same position with identical framing. A tripod is absolutely necessary when shooting this kind of levitation portrait.

The first photo is the portrait and the second photo is an identically framed shot of just the scene without the subject. It’s very helpful to use an identical focal point and identical exposure settings between the two photos.

Shooting in manual mode with manual exposure will ensure that neither the exposure nor focus point will drift when shooting (just don’t bump your focus). Ensuring that these photos are identically framed and exposed will make the final compositing in Photoshop the easiest.

It's important to find a pose that doesn’t look too much like your subject is supported on a stool. If they’re just sitting on their bum or standing on the stool, it will likely be obvious that there is something supporting them and that it was just ‘shopped out.

The best way for your subject to support themselves is on their back, chest or stomach. Since humans rarely support themselves with solely their back, chest or stomach, it makes it less apparent how they are supported in the final photo.

Similarly, placing your subjects head low to the ground is a great method to add tension to the photograph. We don’t usually expect people’s heads to be lower than their feet, so this helps contribute to the illusion of the photograph as a whole.

Post processing is done very simply in Adobe Photoshop with layer masks.

​

​