Use this camera hack to create a levitating flatlay with no strings attached

Ever wanted to add a new dimension to your photo and capture your ingredients as if they were floating in midair?

This captivating levitation effect adds some major wow factor to simple food or product shoots. As soon as we spotted this gorgeous image by Greta from The Plate Pixel we knew we had to find out how to achieve this incredible cascading look.

So how can you impress your clients with this magical floating visual? You may be surprised to learn that this effect is brought to life using a simple styling technique and requires no Photoshop wizardry at all!

Read on to learn how with a simple camera hack you can float your subject matter in thin air and get ready to take your creativity to new heights!

Equipment you'll need for this effect

To get set up you'll need your camera, tripod and a large piece of transparent glass. We used a pane from a glass shelf for this tutorial so have a hunt around your home to see if you have anything similar.

How to set it up

Set up your backdrop on the floor and then use some books or boxes to raise the glass pane above it.

Try and have the glass lifted from the background as high as possible. The higher the glass is lifted off the background the more background blur you'll get.

Attach the camera to a tripod and shoot from a top down angle, just like how you would shoot a flat lay

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Arrange your items

You can now freely style your levitating objects into any composition you like without having to use any fishing line or strings.

Check your camera settings

If you see a separation between the background and the subject you're on the right track. Focus on your items and get the background as blurry as possible.

Tidy up in post processing

Glass can be a tricky tool to work with but it is simple to clean up any marks like fingerprints or scratches on the glass with the Spot Healing Brush tool (J on the keyboard) in Photoshop.

The finished result is so effective considering it is such a simple technique!

Levitation shots can get really complicated and messy but not with this styling hack. How easy was that?

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