A quick and easy update because I will be back from a photo session over the weekend. More on that later if I can get the permission to post about it.
Anyway, I’ve a seen a lot of “people coming out of picture frames” or “climbing out of a picture frame into our reality or whatever you call it” photos lately. They are relatively easy to make and are similar to the floating photos I’ve done in the past but are even easier to make then those. It is a four-step process, but you need to use a tripod for these and have access to a PC with photo processing tools that can do layers:
1) Photograph the location without the subject.
2) Photograph the location with the subject holding the picture frame.
3) In your processing tools, take the two photos and stack the one with the subject on a layer over the one without.
4) Erase the parts of the subject you want out of the photo. In this case, I erased almost everything except her upper body.
You may want to do minor details, like have your subject hold the from the inside to help with the illusion and maybe even work in a different background for the inside of the picture frame (though that does make lining things up more difficult. Also be mindful of where you want shadows – if you want shadows.
Bonus tip 1: Start with the subject and let auto-focus set your focus for your, then turn it off and DO NOT MOVE THE TRIPOD. Then photograph the area without the subject with your focus already set since you switched it to manual.
Bonus tip 2: Try and take a classy photo, that way if you mess something up you still end up with usable photos.
All in all, this is a good photography project to try as it shows you some photo processing basics, basic storytelling, and focusing tricks you can carry on to other photography projects.