Levitation Photography: Stunning Examples & Tutorials

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Many says floating in the air, or so called levitation is impossible. Well, in fact everything is possible, all you need to do is believe yourself, seriously, believe that you can achieve it! And uh, believe that the Photoshop can help you achieve it. Okay, I’m talking about achieving levitation with the help of cheat tool like Photoshop.

(Image Source: Dejon)

Levitation is said to be some sort of skill that allows human to float in the air and yes, nobody did that successfully until now. However, it’s an interesting concept that has been played out in many movies to impress people, thus attracting photographers to produce their own fantastic work of levitation.
Every miracle needs evidences right? Well, we’ve ‘flied’ though several websites to get you 56 very inspiring and somehow a little bit spooky examples of levitation photography with different kind of ‘floating’ pose. Also we are not gonna just show you how people ‘fly’, but teach you how to ‘fly’ with 15 tutorials collected into this post. So all you have to do is sit there for now, enjoy these inspiring examples and, may be, get yourself ‘floating’ in the air afterward!

Floating Without Boundaries

198. ‘No meaning to this, just a quick shot with some levitation and flying hair to add interest. I was thinking of some of my favorite painters and the luminous quality to their work when I edited this. The reflection was quite a feat! ‘ (Image Source: Somewhere Lovely)

A Breeze In The Room. Truly professional work with great composition, the floating cloud is just amazing! (Image Source: brookeshaden)

A Moving Caste. Loved the shadow and feathers, it will be more epic if there’s wings in the shadow! (Image Source: Terra Kate)

An Alternate Route. Many has done photography with levitation effect, but only few can create the effect with very natural feel, such as this dazzling work. (Image Source: brookeshaden)

At Water Level. Fantastic composition, the reflection is perfect and the ripples even makes the levitation effect more realistic! (Image Source: ChelseyLeBlanc)

Bad Dreams. This fantastic photo itself is seems telling a story, probably an underrated piece. (Image Source: Christina Arrivillaga)

Because I Don’t Trust Airplanes. I believe airplane is much more safer! Gorgeous shot with natural pose, loved the idea very much! (Image Source: redredhead)

Being Young. ‘One of the virtues of being very young is that you don’t let the facts get in the way of your imagination.’ – Sam Levenson (Image Source: angiel)

Books Can Take You Anywhere. A meaningful shot with warm colors, every photo with levitation effect tells a story. (Image Source: -Emillie-)

Broken Wings. Well, this is simply epic. Respected the hard work of the photographer too, you can probably check out the entire process behind this epic shot. (Image Source: Jenny Jacobsson)

Can You Turn Off The Airco Please?. Levitation can be funny, too! Good idea. (Image Source: Morphicx)

Card Game. ‘My family has been asking about my levitation pictures and wanted to be in one/have a levitating picture of their own. We were playing cards and this idea was born. I wanted to focus on each person to get their expressions how I liked them, so I shot each person individually and composite them together.’ (Image Source: Erich Leeth)

Chasing Elephants. Amusing shot with perfect tone and extremely realistic shadows, faved this! (Image Source: Terra Kate)

Daydreaming. Wonderful shot with a theme in mind, I believe purpose is very important in creating an influencing levitation photo. (Image Source: caileighkyle)

Defying Gravity. Life without gravity is just fantastic, creative shot. (Image Source: stumayhew)

Delusional Imprisonment. ‘It was really fun despite being really dirty, dusty, having near insect-nest touching incidents, bumping into 4 stray dogs and a civil defence worker.’ (Image Source: JolsAriella)

Dog Fairy. Perfect execution and colors, dogs’ expression really adds to the epicness of this piece as getting animal to perform is pretty challenging. (Image Source: tanguera75)

Easter Laziness. Had a lovely feel with this piece, a levitation photo with peaceful theme. (Image Source: eva)

Electric Jon. The expression has made this common levitation photo entirely uncommon. (Image Source: RachelMarieSmith)

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. I wonder how she got the permission from the gas station to do this, amusing and creative work anyway! (Image Source: gigikassis)

Everything In Its Right Place. Such a silent and peaceful levitation, nice work. (Image Source: Signe Peluffo)

Fairy Tale. A sweet ‘levitation’ moment captured into photo. Never know levitation can be this sweet. (Image Source: Morphicx)

Fight. ‘Nothing livens up a slow day at Marble Slab like an epic mid-air battle. I got my coworker/buddy Las to help me out with another photo today. And yes, that is a giant knife with a 12″ blade he’s holding….. I went with a 16:9 crop to make it more like a frame from a movie. Not sure if it worked or not.’ (Image Source: Erich Leeth)

First Levitation. When was your first levitation? A great attempt by Kelly.grace. (Image Source: kelly.grace)

Floating Woman. A levitation with elegance applied, love the lighting as well. (Image Source: maneeacc)

Getting Food. I think standing will be easier to get the food, very interesting attempt by SANI GZ! (Image Source: SANI GZ)

Goddess Of The Well. Wonderful work that brings out the goddess feel, the manipulation is brilliant also. (Image Source: tanguera75)

Gypsy. Beautiful production with magical feel, falling cards are the best part that makes the entire photo more realistic and believable. (Image Source: hilaryament)

Harry Potter Magic Duel. Professional yet very funny production, I had a LOL moment with this! You can see the behind scene photo to get how they achieve the levitation also! (Image Source: Louish Pixel)

Heaven. Masterpiece. (Image Source: Dejon)

How Are You Doing That!?. ‘I went for a more stylized look because of the surreal nature of the shoot. Sort of hyper-real. I think it’s neat, if not a little overdone. Levitation shoots are so fun.’ (Image Source: Erich Leeth)

Insomia. A typical use of levitation effect in ghost movies, very spooky yet excellent work! (Image Source: delila)

Invisible Chair. The idea is actually inspired from Shanghai World Expo Closing Ceremony Concert, but the author has portrayed the idea wonderfully, I give a 5 star for this. (Image Source: Dancing Tornado)

Levitating. What is he thinking? A thought-provoking piece with emotional lighting. (Image Source: chica migrania)

Levitating Baker. ‘Something magical going on as Kim checks on her sugar cookies!’ An impressive and magical work indeed. (Image Source: Royce Hutain)

Levitation. Very natural pose and expression, true art of levitation. (Image Source: Ciel Photography)

Levitation Attempt #6. Inspiring shot with totally unique environment, the shadow is just awesome. (Image Source: another.point.in.time)

Live With No Excuses, And Love With No Regrets. Really beautiful work which teaches a great life lesson too, like the surrealistic manipulation also. (Image Source: honeyjazz)

Meditational Levitation. ‘I took this with about half an hour to spare. I’m ok with it. Not thilled, not disgusted. Meh.’ (Image Source: Erich Leeth)

Mother’s Day. Levitation is more realistic when more people get involved! (Image Source: Tin Wedding Whistle)

Moving Block. Different with most photographers, Natsumi Hayashi prefers jump to create the levitation effect, but her works are even more realistic than most photographers who embraced photo manipulation. (Image Source: Natsumi Hayashi)

My World. Levitation is not human’s ability anymore, a charming piece! (Image Source: RachelMarieSmith)

Ninety.Seven. I like the legs’ pose, it’s so relaxing and realistic. (Image Source: mebemrslerman)

Paradox. ‘Seriously, I have never spent so much time editing a photo, 4 hours on Photoshop non-stop. There were a lot of things that I wasn’t happy with when editing this photo I have about 10 PSD files sitting on my desktop at the time of writing and about 30 JPEG files, what a mess.’ (Image Source: alexcottrillphotography)

Photographer Levitation. Friend is your best companion to achieve levitation. Behind the scene photo is available. (Image Source: Louish Pixel)

Pixie Dust. Sensational work with great model acting on, model is probably the most important element in achieving most realistic levitation. (Image Source: brookeshaden)

Playing Piano. Every musical piece will sounds epic if you play with this style, stunning work! (Image Source: Anka Zhuravleva)

Ropes. A totally creative product utilizing the rope, which is also signified by author as some kind of ‘social bond’ in our life. (Image Source: Somewhere Lovely)

Saying Goodbye. When is your last separation with the beloved person? When it’s used correctly, levitation is one of the greatest way to tell a heart touching story. (Image Source: Kristi Fräzier)

Scared Of Sleep. Scared of sleep? I’m scared of you. Deadly amazing work. (Image Source: The Dirty Projector)

Stirring Dust. ‘Only in our sleep can we read the pages of our dreams.’ (Image Source: brookeshaden)

Sugar & Spice. Levitation applied to life activity, how magical! (Image Source: RachelMarieSmith)

The Wonder Of Reading. The life is wonderful with endless imagination from book. I think levitation is good for product advertising like book advertising too. (Image Source: Carolyn Hampton)

Unity Of The Universe. ‘I wanted to do a levitation photo because it’s the best way I can demonstrate how great music makes me feel.’ (Image Source: Anka Zhuravleva)

Violinist. Music is known for no boundaries, so is levitation. (Image Source: Anka Zhuravleva)

When Will I See You Again. A levitation work that talks a romantic love story, perfect expression. (Image Source: blakejacobsen)

Tutorial

Anatomy Of A Shot. Just as its name, this tutorial will show you the entire process of creating the photo with levitation effect as below. The secret weapon is rope.

Dreaming Of Flying. Extremely detailed article sharing how the author achieves the levitation in her photography, a must-see article.

Levitation Secrets Revealed! The Making & Behind-The-Scenes. A must-read for levitation photography’s learner, as the author revealed his tricks for all his levitation photos, explained in video and photo format!

Floating In Photoshop. A comprehensive tutorial that lists out all tools and steps you need to get yourself ‘floating’ in the air.

Free Fall. Although this video tutorial guides you to create the photo with people ‘falling’, the described method can actually be used to create nice levitation work.

How To Levitate. A tutorial that not only teaches you how to create the levitation effect, but also sharing the tips to make the entire work more realistic.

How To Levitate – Levitating Photographer. ‘I finally did a full behind the scenes video of the photoshoot and editing.’

Levitation Photography. Discover how to defies the law of gravity with the power of Photoshop !

Levitation Photography And Working With Textures. Not really a tutorial for complete beginner but a good read for those who want to apply texture into its levitation production.

Levitation Tutorial. Step by step tutorial guaranteed to help you get anything ‘levitating’ in your photo,
worth a read!

Reflection

Honestly I’m quite surprised when I discovered there are thousands of quality levitation photos existed in the web. It seems that the concept has been played by many photographers over years. With such richful productions, I’ve been thinking what makes a good levitation photo for now?