Trick Photography Techniques With a Smartphone

Photography Tips  •  Smartphone Photography

Ever wish you could do a bit of magic with your camera? Maybe create a scene that you know is impossible in real life but looks real to the viewer? Or maybe you enjoyed some of the special effects in your favorite Godzilla or Star Wars movies? Either way, the “magic” involved is often incredibly easy to create. In the clip below, Dynamo, a well-known English magician and lover of “visual magic,” gives us a few tips and tricks for this often underutilized art of illusion:

Like most “magic,” forced perspective photos work with illusions. Depending on the relative size of the objects and where you place them, you can make things appear smaller, larger, closer, or farther than they actually are. You’ve likely seen forced perspective photos of people holding the sun or the moon, but in reality, these are just the tip of the iceberg where forced perspective photography comes in.

“It’s really easy to create your own illusions just using a phone.”

The cool thing in today’s world, though, is that you really don’t need much to create some really great optical illusions. No expensive lighting setups or studios are needed–the camera on your phone will do just fine (Dynamo is using the Samsung Galaxy S7.) The main ingredient to an original forced perspective photo? Imagination. Add to that a great setting, a willing accomplice, a bit of creative problem-solving, and a good dab of patience, and you’ll be well on your way to some spectacular illusions.

Have you ever done any creative illusions using any of these tricks?