15 Forced Perspective Technique Examples
The forced perspective technique manipulates our human perception with the use of optical illusions to make objects appear larger, smaller, farther, or closer than they actually are. I once screamed like a little girl at a scary movie in a packed theater, only to find out later that the gigantic monster on the screen was only a little model. The movie makers had used forced perspective to turn a plastic toy into something frightening to the audience. The use of digital effects today still incorporates this popular way of portraying scenes or objects.
Little Push by Chaval Brasil
Photography also uses forced perspective a lot as well to give a certain feel to an image. That’s why I was surprised to only find a few thousand results when searching for ‘forced perspective’ on Flickr. Here are 15 selected examples of this technique, which includes images that show how much fun you can have with it.
For more examples, check out the forced perspective group on Flickr.
Maina by -Thanh
Dee blows off some steam by toastforbrekkie
Waterfall Trap by stuant63
Johan is incredibly tall by mrlerone
Tire Tracks by andrewyang
Gnome Alone by -RobW-
Hot Dog! by toastforbrekkie
Out for a Stroll by Kevin Eddy
The Tunnel of Typography by otherthings
Encroaching Evil by country boy shane
Perspective by M.V. Jantzen
Paragliding, Tod on Pule hill by purplemattfish
Warp by kitone
Perspective by twiga269
36 Responses to “15 Forced Perspective Technique Examples” - Add Yours
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:20 am
cool photos . I’m very new in photography but i agree that forced perspectives (I didn’t even know the proper term before this article) make photos look cool and even more interesting. thanks for your post!
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:12 am
Thank you for this great overview of my group! ;-)
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:30 am
This article forgot to mention techniques or tutorials for shooting Forced Perspective photos. Any tips for a newbie like me? ;-)
:::ron
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:34 am
have a look at mine
http://picasaweb.google.fr/lavideosousmarine/Voyages#5102019825089247090
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:09 am
Something I will have to do! thanks! I always forget to force perspectives!!!
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:01 am
Am I totally misunderstanding the term, or are some of these just… you know, wide angle photographs? Like the church, the staircase of water, the long hallways. There’s nothing forced perspective about those.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:23 am
Forced perspective can be used to increase or decrease the perceived depth of architecture, which is what you are seeing in those.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:56 am
This post is interesting and helps more. Thanks. !!
July 3rd, 2009 at 9:22 am
nice catch!.. thank you for sharing your photos! ..another great idea about perspective!
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:28 am
Im new with this and I think this is very interesting
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:28 am
Awesome ….. very interesting
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:37 am
Is there a tutorial for this technique that I’m missing?
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 am
Some Great Technical Examples of Perspectives. Thanks for Sharing.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Very nice pictures, but……………Nothing here on how to do it…….
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Great Stuff. You could make a whole photo project out of Forced Perspectives
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:31 pm
For those looking for tutorials or more information about forced perspective. Here are a few links.
http://www.ehow.com/video_4973371_what-forced-perspective.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_perspective
http://experimentalphoto.com/2009/01/01/forced-perspective-technique-1/
There really isn’t much out there. Maybe a good tutorial will have to be put in the works… :)
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:07 pm
My friends took these examples on salt flats in South America
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bundyandlaura/3564800348/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bundyandlaura/3563988361/
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:39 pm
It was good to see and enjoyed the pic,but please also let me know the tech.
Regards
Devendra
July 4th, 2009 at 2:18 am
these pics are took by easy way these are already done in film roll period have any advanced composition.
July 4th, 2009 at 3:26 am
thanks for the examples, but how do you DO them?
July 4th, 2009 at 3:27 am
thanks nate for the links
July 4th, 2009 at 4:07 am
I came across this photo today: certainly an interesting perspective! http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/gallery/2009/jul/03/1?picture=349760354
July 4th, 2009 at 4:39 am
Yes, this surely something that never crosses my mind, maybe I should have a go at it sometime.
July 4th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Some nice examples, thank you Nate. The third link you gave – thanks! – was most helpful for me for figuring out how to achieve those funny, size distortion shots with interactions between foreground and background. Plus some additional helpful examples.
http://experimentalphoto.com/2009/01/01/forced-perspective-technique-1/
July 5th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
The Salar de Uyuni is a big flat salt pan and is popular for “forced perspective” photos, even though they’re not tagged as such. Link: Flickr photo
July 5th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
sorry for the double comment, here are some more:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sagsag/2105712695/
July 8th, 2009 at 1:45 am
How does one go about shooting these images? A tutorial would be helpful.
July 8th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
wonderful and inspiring tips…
lovely perspective idea
July 9th, 2009 at 4:02 am
Here’s one of mine:
http://mooreclick.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/eco-friendly/
As far as how to do them… for this one, at least, I just set the aperture at 16 or so, to have plenty of DOF. I ran into trouble with this photo (fourth one down):
http://mooreclick.wordpress.com/2008/12/06/dc-day-three/
because I had just gotten the camera, and was basically shooting on Auto for the trip. You can see where having too shallow a DOF makes it obvious what you’re up to.
July 13th, 2009 at 7:43 am
The “Out for a Stroll by Kevin Eddy” is actually false perspective via Walt Disney World’s “Hollywood Studios” backlot area. See http://www.mpimages.net/wdw1/compressed/Parks/MGM_Studios/general/san_francisco_flat1-goldhaber.jpg
Everything past the barricades is a mural. It’s pretty neat to see from a distance.
July 21st, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Very, very cool! I can definitely see myself playing with this!
July 24th, 2009 at 2:52 am
The photos submitted on various subjects are impressive but it would be extemely helpful to a rookie like me if info pertaining to type of lense or exposure used was also submitted.
September 24th, 2009 at 6:46 am
I love them, they are very clever.
November 6th, 2009 at 8:22 am
For all asking info on how to do it, for the most dramatic impact, you need an ultra wide lens (16mm to about 24mm on full frame or 10mm to about 14mm on a 1.6 crop camera).
Then you get close to what you want exaggerated and set the smallest acceptable aperture for greater DOF and you’re all set.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:40 am
some i didn’t get. but cool
December 25th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Visual-effects artists have used foreced perspecive for decades in movies. David Stipes, who is now an instructor at the rt Institute of Phoenix in Arizona, posted an excellent account of Phil Kellison’s forced-perspective technique, including diagrams and explanations of “Kellison Sticks” for easily setting up such shots.
http://davidstipes.com/blog/?p=453
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