Special Effect Photography Artist Inspirations

Article by Jennifer Markert,  Cover image by Jerry Uelsmann

This article aims to share a number of inspirational photographs, and the artists that created them using special effects. 

Special effects can be applied to photography in numerous ways, sometimes by a change in perspective, tricks of light, or even manual manipulation. Whatever the process is, the results can be spectacular and surreal, adding magic to otherwise ordinary images. Special effects are able to bend reality, and create an alternate world where the rules we live by no longer apply. Gravity is rendered moot, bodies become capable of distortion, and light can transform itself into a tangible substance streaked among the air.

Here are several examples of our favorite special effect photographs and the talented artists behind them.

1.  Jerry Uelsmann

It may be hard to remember a world without Photoshop, especially when looking at Uelsmann’s photography. Years before digital editing software was available, darkroom manipulation was utilized to create these haunting images, which utilize multiple exposure and image blending to produce eery and mystical illusions.

2. John Neville Cohen

John Neville Cohen’s special effects, though more modern, are also produced without photoshop - and surprisingly, without darkroom chemicals either. Cohen’s unique method of SFX and light painting involves projecting images, sans a screen, to create a multiple exposure effect.

3. Michael Bosanko

Michael Bosanko specializes in what is often called either light painting or light drawing, defined by him as “light graffiti.” Bosanko’s paintings are an example of light painting at its best and most complex, though simple light painting is a very simple and fun special effect to achieve. With just a low shutter speed and a moving light, anyone can still light in it’s determined trail, making for a fantastical capture invisible to the naked eye.

4. Constantine Gedal

The special effects used in this photo by Gedal are entirely real; graves have been dug into the ground and filled with water where the models lie listlessly. His photography gains surreal qualities by manipulation not of the photo itself, but of the reality being captured. As a result, many of Gedal’s photos turn reality into a stranger physical and emotional existence, evoking the lucidity of memories, transparency of identity, and an ethereal perception of being.

5.Evan Sharboneau

Sharboneau, who has done video tutorials for LMS in the past is already a master of his trade, running the photography website PhotoExtremist on which he posts videos and teaches photography techniques. The image featured here is only an example of the many tricks he utilizes in creating experimental art. Here, we see a panoramic image looped to create an planet-like orb, creating a sensation of warped gravity, vertigo, and fantasy.

Conclusion:

Special effects of all types make images enticing by enhancing and warping reality, as demonstrated by these examples. Any photograph that makes the leap from normal to strange has the power to change perspective, unearth new feelings, and reveal the ethereal nature of existence that often goes unseen and uncaptured.

Feel free to check out our new Pinterest account, where you can like and pin photos from our board to yours.

Post your own special effects photos in the comments below!

Resources:

Digital Photography School has a new great eBook out! Photo Magic: Special Effects Photography Made Easy Click here to view more details