November 13, 2015
With the holidays coming up, I thought it might be fun to share how to do some trick photography. Awhile back, I came across some tutorials on trick photography and how to add yourself, or someone else, to a photo as many times as you want. I had seen this done many times but did not know how! I was intrigued. Imagining how much fun this would be with the grandkids, the research began!
This can be done with Photoshop, but if you don’t have Photoshop, Picmonkey is free and was used to create the photo above. Picmonkey has Royale features, which require an upgrade with a nominal fee, but most of the features are free! For less than five bucks a month you can use all of their features!
The first thing you do is take pictures of your subject, or subjects, in different areas with the same background. You will need a tripod for this so that the pictures all match. If you don’t have a tripod, did you know that the standard lamp harp screw fits the camera just like a tripod? It works perfectly! Just remove the finial and the shade. Screw your camera on the top and set it up for your shots.
Start taking pictures of your subjects. For this picture, I took eight shots in total. Then go to Picmonkey. Click on Edit and Computer. Your files will come up and you can choose your first picture.
Next, click on the butterfly icon on the left. Overlays will come up and you will click on Your Own at the top. Choose another one of your photos. It will come up as an overlay. Stretch the corners to fit over the top of the first picture.
Completely cover the first picture.
Next, click on the butterfly icon on the left. Overlays will come up and you will click on Your Own at the top. Select another one of your photos; it will come up as an overlay. Stretch the corners to completely cover the first picture.
When everything you want is revealed, click on the icon above the picture, as indicated by the red arrow on the top right, to combine all of the elements.
Go back to Overlays again and choose another of your pictures from your computer files and repeat the process until all of your pictures are combined.
When Sophia and Aidan came over the day we did this, I told them they were in for a surprise. They got a big kick out of all the different poses, but they really enjoyed watching the whole thing come together on the computer. Heck, I enjoyed the whole experience!
Wouldn’t it be fun to add Santa by your tree or by the fireplace? I’m thinking it might be fun to just set the camera on the tripod and take pictures throughout our Christmas Eve party and meld them together. Doesn’t this open up endless possibilities?
Well, I hope you enjoy this little bit of ‘Trick Photography’ as much as my family has! If this inspires you, I would love for you to send one of your masterpieces using trick photography!
