Forced Perspective Photography How to Create Forced Perspective Photos By Liz Masoner, About.com Guide to Photography




What is Forced Perspective

Forced perspective is a photographic illusion generally used to make two or more objects seem to be a different size than their actual size. This type of forced perspective is made possible by the single lens of the camera. Unlike your eyes, which work in tandem to create depth perception, the camera only has one eye. As such, the camera has no depth perception, it sees things as flat. This is the same reason tree limbs in the background appear to grow out of the head of subjects in photographs.

Photographs where one subject seems to merge with another and photographs which defy gravity are technically part of this genre of photography as well although they actually rely more on orientation and point of view than a true visual compression due to the single eye of the lens.

Indeed, even the carried away by balloons illusion technically falls into forced perspective as the angle of view under the subject’s feet is compressed by the camera to create the illusion of more height.

Types of Forced Perspective

Forced Perspective generally falls into a few main categories.

1. Making a main subject larger
2. Making a main subject smaller
3. Merging subjects
4. Bending gravity

Common Forced Perspective Photos

While the opportunities for forced perspective are nearly limitless, there are some "standard" photos that have come to represent forced perspective purely because of how common these specific photos have become as they are copied many times.

• Holding a landmark
• Holding/eating the sun/moon
• Holding another person in one hand
• Toy larger than person/pet
• People hanging from top of photo
• Person stepping on another person
• An older photograph or a sketch merged over a current scene

How to Take a Forced Perspective Photo

The process for taking a forced perspective picture varies depending on they type of forced perspective image you are creating. As such, I’ve broken down the instructions by type of image.

How to Take a Size Changing Forced Perspective Photo
Depth of field, distance, and line of sight are the three main ingredients in a size changing forced perspective photo. This is the same technique used in the movies for decades before computer graphics came along. Darby O’Gill and the Little People is a great example of a movie made using forced perspective.

When creating this type of photo, the subject you want to appear smaller should be further from the camera than the subject you want to appear larger. Distance depends on the amount of size difference you want to achieve. To shrink a pet you might only need 6 or 8 feet. To shrink a mountain you might need a mile or more. Also, the larger the size difference between the actual size and desired appearance, the more space needed as well.

Most of these photos will be made with a wide angle lens (35mm or less) and a large F-Stop setting. The exact F-Stop required will depend on the distance between the two subjects. Use whatever setting is needed to put both subjects in focus. If you do not have manual focus control on your camera you can set the autofocus 1/3 behind your closest subject because DOF falls 1/3 in front of the focal point and 2/3 behind the focal point.

Once you have determined the focus for your photo, you’ll need to set up the alignment. If the subjects are not touching in the photo the alignment of the shot is not as critical as it is when the subjects appear to touch. If you are setting up a photo where the subjects appear to touch, such as one person appearing to stand in another person’s hand, you may need a tripod to get the stability you need for fine adjustment to the line of sight so that you don’t have gaps and overlaps of subjects in the wrong spots.

How to Take a Merged Subject Forced Perspective Photo
To merge subjects, such as the current trend of old photographs held in front of current versions of the same scene, you’ll follow the same process as the size change forced perspective photos only instead of emphasizing size differences you’ll make the old photo/sketch match the size of the current scene. Because you’ll be holding the old photo/sketch (relatively close to the camera), the large F-Stop (small aperture) and wide angle lens will be especially important to get both items in focus.

How to Take a Gravity Defying Forced Perspective Photo
Defying gravity in a photo is one of the easiest forced perspective photographs to create. The basics of a gravity defying photo is to turn the photo upside down or on its side. Subjects will lay down on the ground with their feet on a wall as though they were sitting against the wall, multiple subjects can lay down on the ground at various locations to appear to be flying, or subjects can lean out of doorways to give the illusion of hanging. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your poses to find one that works best. Finding a location that works for this type of shot is the difficult part.

To find a location, look for a spot where a subject can lay down on the ground in such a way that you look like you are sitting against a wall and the camera can be positioned where the wall looks like the floor instead of a wall. Piers where reflections mirror the background also work well. Long hallways with doors or columns on either side allow subjects to lean into the hallway to suggest hanging or climbing out of the ceiling/floor once the photo is turned are excellent options as well.

When you turn the photo’s orientation to create the gravity illusion, remember that a straight horizon is very important so that you don’t shatter the illusion. Also, pay attention to the subject’s clothing and hair positioning. Hair and fabric that hangs differently than the apparent reality of the photo will quickly shatter the illusion. For example, the example photo has clothes hanging wrong for orientation, extra items in the background, and a crooked horizon that all spoil the illusion of this photo.