Special Effects

You are about to enter another dimension, where time, space, color, and light itself can be manipulated at will. No, it's not the Twilight zone...it's Adorama's in-depth guide to Special Effects Photography!

We've devoted an entire area of the Adorama Learning Center to special effects photography because: 
a) it's fun; 
b) for aspiring pros, many techniques can be applied to jazz up your portfolio and assignments; 
c) transforming a normal subject into something that looks like it's from another planet can be a very creative, fulfilling activity; and 
d) it's fun 

Software? Not required 

Surprisingly, many special effects can be done in camera, and do not require any work in image-editing programs. Some techniques can only be done with film, although most can be done either in camera or after the fact using Photoshop or some other image-editing program. We'll show you both ways. 

While many of our staff of world-class photography experts have contributed to this section, none has provided as much useful information as Elinor Stecker-Orel, who has spent a lifetime collecting and writing about techniques to push your camera to its outer limits. We don't call her our Special Effects Diva for nothing! 

Dive in, and learn some magic!