I'm not sure when the whole levitation photo craze started becoming a "thing". I'm pretty certain it has been around longer than this year. It just seemed like this year was when I started seeing more of them popping up. There was talk of it in the IMPC group on The Book which inspired me to try to delve into it. I just needed to find the right person to pull it off. And the right scenery. Well who better than my two sons that are always plenty animated?
This particular location wasn't actually my first choice. I had an entirely different idea in mind but it required a much gloomier background. Which also meant it had to be more overcast. Not nearly as beautiful a day as this was. However, with Elijah's busy schedule, I have to take what I can get. I can still do the other idea I have in mind later. Who knows...it may even make the Top Captures for next year if it materializes as well as I have it pictured in my mind.
This spot is a lake not far from my place. For my Des Moines folks, it reminds me of a smaller version of Gray's Lake. It's got the little walkway around it where you can always find people out getting their morning, midday and/or evening exercise. It even has paddle boats that people can rent. Although I don't see those used very often. Probably because they're in the shape of Godzilla-shaped swans. Well that and the lake is not really that big so it's not like you're going to get much scenery if you go out on it.
Even though this shot only has Elijah in it, I took quite a few different combinations with both him and Gabe. One of my favorite being a shot where it appeared as though they were floating toward each other as they were reaching out to touch fingers but not quite touching. It looked like it should have been a scene in the movie "Chronicle". The reason I chose this one was because of some of the comments that were made when I posted it. I wasn't sure if people were being serious or if they were just naive about how the shot was accomplished so I wanted to provide some type of clarification.
As you can see, Elijah looks like he's in the midst of falling. Someone who is not versed on Photoshop (or with just simple photo editing in general) would look at that photo and think that it was done the natural way. That Elijah jumped from a higher point and I snapped just as he was getting ready to hit the ground. But common sense should tell you otherwise. Look how close he is to the ground. Look how his body is positioned. If he really fell like that, that impact would have been VERY painful. Most assuredly would have resulted in an injury of some sort. Do you think I would post a picture that caused my son injury? Plus, the expression on his face clearly indicates that he knows he is no danger.
I was on the fence about whether I should divulge how I as able to achieve this capture. It's really not a secret at all. Anyone can go online and figure out how it was done. How many folks actually will though? I'm guessing not many. I won't go through the whole process so I can at least maintain some semblance of secrecy. Just know that there was no movement required on the part of the talent (the word commonly used to describe a person who is the subject of a photo). The idea is to have it appear as though he is, but the less movement that takes place, the better the shot works. It all comes down to the editing to make the entire thing come together flawlessly. That's the part where I would like to think that I really shine.
When I first seriously started taking photos a few years back, my editing skills were severely lacking. NO way I could have pulled off something like this. I didn't even have any actual software. No Lightroom. No Photoshop. It was just Microsoft photo editor that came with my computer. So there was very little post-processing that took place and it shows in the early work. I eventually stepped up my game and became semi-proficient with both LR and PS. I realize I'm still probably only using the tip of the iceberg for both of those can do. I know more than the average person yet not as much as an expert. However, for someone as anal as I am about how my photos look, that learning process is more than welcomed.
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