How to Make It Look Like You're Holding Your Own Head in GIMP
A fun GIMP project for Halloween -- or anytime you want to gross out your friends -- is to doctor a photo so it looks like you're holding your own severed head by the hair or have it tucked under your arm. While you could achieve this grisly effect with nearly any photo of yourself, it will be much more effective if you do a little preparation and take photos especially for the project.
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Things You'll Need
- Digital camera with computer cable
- Tripod
- Wig colored like your own hair (optional)
- Foam head or similarly shaped object (optional)
Instructions
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Attach a tripod to the camera and point the camera toward the background you'll be standing in front of.Set the focal length that you'll be in the shot from at least the waist up. This is easiest to do when you have a friend who can look in the camera's viewfinder while you pose.
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Take a photo of the background on its own.
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Take a photo of yourself standing in front of the background, either by having a friend snap the shutter or by putting the camera on time delay. If you want the final image to show you holding your head by the hair, grasp a wig by the hair and hold it out to one side of you. If you want your head to be tucked under your arm, tuck a foam mannequin head or a ball about the size of your head under your arm. Make sure the expression on your face is one you'd expect on a disembodied head -- a cheery smile will just spoil the effect.
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Attach the camera to your computer with the supplied cable, then start GIMP.
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Open the "File" menu in GIMP, then select "Create..." and "Scanner/Camera." Follow the menu prompts for your particular camera to load both the photo of the background and the photo of yourself as separate new GIMP images.
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Switch to the photo of yourself. Open the "Edit" menu and select "Copy visible." In the background photo, click the "Edit" menu, select "Paste as..." and click "New Layer." You now have a double-layer image: the top layer is the picture of yourself and the bottom layer is the background.
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Open the "Layers and Channels" window, then on the top layer to select it. Select the "Scissors Select Tool" from the Toolbox. Click the cursor at multiple points around the shape of your head to create a clipping path around it. When you've put points all around the outside of your head, click the cursor in the center of your head to turn the clipping path into a selection.
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Open the "Select" menu and click "Float." Select the "Move Tool" from the Toolbox. Click on the selection of your head in the photo, then drag it so it's either just under your hand -- if you were holding the wig -- or under your arm if you were holding the foam head. Because the underlying background is the same one you were standing in front of, there will be no visible "hole" where your head used to be!
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Tips & Warnings
If you were holding a wig in your photo, move your cut-out head so that only a little of the wig shows between your hand and your head. This makes it look like you've got your own hair in your hand.
Don't move the camera between taking the first and second photographs. The backgrounds of both photos need to line up exactly for this effect to work.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
