Saturday, 23 February 2013

Trick Photography Long Exposure Ghost Eyes

This is another trick that could be done by using a long shutter speed. If you have an ND filter at hand and a stable tripod and cable / remote release it would be helpful, but could manage without any of these. Only real requirement is a digital camera that allows manual controls.

The subject remains still during the length of the 2 second exposure but her eyes were constantly moving from side to side. I asked her to give a slight pause at the extreme ends to get this specific effect. Else you will get even blur without the pupil registering on both sides. 

Trick photography - Long exposure - Ghost eyes
Trick photography - Long exposure - Ghost eyes

Camera: Canon 5dmkii
Lens: Canon 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM Macro
Mode: Manual
Shutter Speed: 2"
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 100
White balance: Daylight

Spooky ha. :- No Adobe Photoshop software was used!

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Friday, 22 February 2013

Trick Photography Long Exposure Eyes Open and Closed in Same Picture

Here's one cool trick in which you see the eyes of the subject open and closed at the same time. This trick is done in camera and no Photoshop is used.

Trick Photography Long Exposure Eyes Open and Closed in Same Picture
Trick Photography - Long Exposure - Eyes Open and Closed in Same Picture

Camera: Canon 5dmkii
Lens: Canon 24-105 f/4 L IS USM
Shooting Mode: Manual
Aperture: f/11
Shutter Speed: 2"
ISO: 100
White Balance: Daylight
An ND filter, a sturdy tripod and a cable / remote release will help even though its not absolutely essential. The eyes of the subject were open during the first half of the exposure and closed for the second half.

Trick photography ideas
Trick photography ideas

Another variation of the same concept this time the length of time the eyes were open was reduced  so they were open only for a split second at the start of the exposure and then the eyes were closed. You will be able to generate varying degrees of the same effect by varying the duration and also experimenting with starting the exposure with the eyes closed and then opening them.

It is important that the subject remains perfectly still during the length of the exposure.

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Thursday, 14 February 2013

Trick Photography - Levitation Photography


Levitation photography is a great photography trick. The best thing about levitation photography is that it all looks so real.

Levitation Photography
Levitation Photography

This is not exactly a photography trick but instead more of a Photoshop trick. 

Levitation Photography
Levitation Photography

Basically you take two different pictures one with the subject and one of just the background. The camera will be secured on a tripod so that the scene and the angle of view do not change.

Levitation Photography
Levitation Photography

This is the setup shot for the first picture, Yasmine is lying on a table holding on to the door handle as if she is  been blown away. We took one more picture of the empty scene (without the subject and the table) which is given below.

Levitation Photography
Levitation Photography

In this shot Yasmine is actually standing on a chair, which we had covered with black cloth to make our job easier in post production. The same shot of the empty scene given below is also used for this picture.

Levitation Photography
Levitation Photography

Shot of the scene without the subject, as the camera was on a tripod we need not worry about  the angle of view and relative subject placement and all.

Once you have the two shots which are essential, it is time to open them up in Photoshop, Put both of the images into the same document (different layers) by dragging and dropping or copying and pasting them in.
We had the image with the subject on the top layer and the one without the subject as the bottom layer. 

Now select the top layer and then erase the stool by using an eraser tool or by using a layer mask. Ta-da! The chair is gone, and it looks like your subject is floating in mid-air.
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Wednesday, 13 February 2013

Trick Photography - Stroboscopic Photography Effect


A cool trick that you can do with an external flash is to take a long exposure shot, preferably in the dark (basically your aim is to light only the subject with the flash, there should not be anything else in the background to catch the light) and fire the flash multiple times on your subject while the exposure is taking place. You will end up with multiple instances of your subject.


Stroboscopic Photography Effect
Stroboscopic Photography Effect

Camera Settings

Manual Mode
Colour Space: Adobe  RGB
File Format: RAW
The exposure was  15 seconds at f/6.3 @ 100 ISO, 
White balance was set to flash 

Flash settings

Mode: Multi
No of flashes: 14
Frequency: 1Hz
Flash Power 1/8

Most modern flash units have a mode called Multi or Repeating Flash mode in which you have options to adjust variables such as the output level, how many Times it flashes, and the Frequency rate in Hertz. 

Stroboscopic Photography Effect
Stroboscopic Photography Effect

The same picture as above, converted to Black and White
For a detailed tutorial on how to do stroboscopic flash shots refer this post which we published earlier in our website. Stroboscopic Flash Photography .

Related Reading


  1. Photography Trick Heart Shaped Shadow on a Book With a Ring
  2. Trick Photography - Stroboscopic Photography Effect
  3. Trick Photography - Levitation Photography
  4. Trick Photography Long Exposure Eyes Open and Closed in Same Picture
  5. Trick Photography Long Exposure Ghost Eyes

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