Ethereal photography is about creating images that transport the viewer to another world—dreamlike, soft, serene, and almost magical. Whether you are shooting portraits, landscapes, or conceptual art, achieving the ethereal aesthetic requires a blend of technical skill, creative lighting, and strategic post-processing. Here’s how you can master the ethereal style and make your photos appear otherworldly.
What Makes a Photo Ethereal?
An ethereal photo often feels like it's from a dream, a place where time slows down, and reality softens. The key features of ethereal photography include:
1. Soft Focus and Diffused Light
- Soft focus is one of the most distinct features of ethereal photography. Instead of sharp, clinical details, the image should have a sense of softness, making the subject feel gentle and inviting. This can be achieved using a wide aperture, creating a shallow depth of field, or employing creative techniques such as diffusion filters.
2. Subtle Highlights and Delicate Shadows
- Ethereal images are characterized by soft, subtle transitions between light and shadow. The contrasts in these photos are gentle, without harsh edges, contributing to the calm atmosphere.
3. Gentle Color Tones
- The color palette is key to achieving an ethereal look. Most ethereal photographs are tinted in pastels or warm, glowing hues. Think soft pinks, muted blues, and warm creams that add a serene and almost nostalgic quality to the image.
4. A Sense of Serenity and Magic
- At its core, ethereal photography conveys a feeling of peace, tranquility, and magic. The image should evoke a sense of calm, like stepping into another world where time and space feel suspended.
Related: How to Take Professional-Looking Photos
Camera Settings for an Ethereal Look
Achieving an ethereal aesthetic starts with your camera settings. These settings will allow you to capture the soft, glowing look you’re after:
1. Wide Aperture (f/1.4 – f/2.8)
- A wide aperture creates a shallow depth of field, meaning that the subject will be in focus, while the background becomes beautifully blurred. This results in a dreamy bokeh effect that helps separate your subject from the environment. The wider the aperture (smaller f-number), the softer the background and the more ethereal the photo becomes.
- Pro Tip: Use the aperture to control how much of the scene is in focus. The more out-of-focus elements you can include, the dreamier the photo will appear.
2. Low ISO (100–400)
- A low ISO helps keep your photos clean by minimizing noise, which is essential for the smooth and soft look that ethereal photography is known for. Higher ISO can introduce grain, which might distract from the softness you're aiming for.
- Pro Tip: Adjust your shutter speed to make sure your exposure is balanced while keeping ISO low.
3. Slight Overexposure
- To enhance the dreamlike, soft glow of your images, try slightly overexposing your photos (by +0.3 to +1 stop). Overexposing adds a gentle glow to highlights and reduces the overall contrast, giving the photo a softer, almost "washed out" look that’s perfect for an ethereal feel.
- Pro Tip: Avoid overexposing too much, as it can result in loss of important details, especially in the highlights.
4. Manual Focus
- Using manual focus allows you to precisely control where the sharpness lies. This is especially useful when you want to deliberately introduce a soft focus effect, either on the subject or the background.
- If you're still building your kit: Best Cameras for Beginners
Lighting: The Key to Ethereal Photography
Lighting is arguably the most important factor in ethereal photography. Soft, diffused light helps create the glowing, otherworldly quality that is central to this style.
1. Use Natural Light
- Natural light, especially during the golden hour (the hour after sunrise or before sunset) or on an overcast day, is perfect for ethereal photography. During these times, the light is soft and diffused, which helps to create a serene atmosphere.
- Backlighting: Position your subject so that the light is coming from behind them. This creates a soft, glowing halo around the subject, which enhances the ethereal effect.
- Learn more about working with natural light: How to Use Natural Light for Stunning Photos
2. Use Soft Artificial Light
- When working with artificial lighting, avoid harsh, direct lighting sources. Instead, use large softboxes or diffusion panels to soften the light. This ensures the light wraps around your subject gently, rather than casting hard shadows or creating overexposed highlights.
- Pro Tip: A softbox will give you a large, diffused light source, ideal for flattering portraits that enhance the ethereal look.
- Explore the basics of artificial lighting: Photography Artificial Lighting
3. Creative Light Techniques
- You can experiment with different lighting techniques to add subtle mood to your images:
- Rembrandt Lighting: This classic technique creates soft shadows and highlights that give a three-dimensional, almost sculptural look to the subject.
- Split Lighting: It illuminates one side of the face or subject while keeping the other in shadow, adding drama and intrigue to the image without disrupting the soft, ethereal atmosphere.
- Learn more about lighting techniques:
- Rembrandt Lighting
- Split Lighting
Composition & Creative Effects
1. Negative Space
- Negative space refers to the empty areas in a composition, which allows the subject to breathe and stand out more. Using negative space helps create a feeling of openness and serenity, making the photo feel less cluttered and more peaceful.
- Pro Tip: Use large areas of sky, water, or natural surroundings as negative space around your subject to emphasize their ethereal qualities.
- Learn more about using negative space in photography: What is Negative Space in Photography
2. Motion Blur
- Incorporating slight motion blur can add a subtle dreaminess to your photo. For example, if you're shooting a subject in motion, use a slower shutter speed to create soft trails of movement. This introduces a dynamic, fluid quality to the image while keeping the overall effect soft and ethereal.
- Pro Tip: Use a shutter speed between 1/30 and 1/60 to create gentle motion blur.
- Explore more on using motion blur creatively: How to Use Motion Blur Creatively in Portrait Photography
3. Lens Choice
- Vintage lenses are a favorite for achieving an ethereal look because they often produce a soft, glowing effect that modern lenses can’t replicate. For instance, using the Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 lens results in a signature swirling bokeh, giving the image a unique, dreamlike quality. Vintage lenses like these are great for adding a magical touch to your photos.
- Explore more about vintage lenses: Best Lenses for Portrait Photography
Post-Processing for the Ethereal Effect
Post-processing plays a vital role in enhancing the ethereal look of your photos. Here’s how to refine your images:
1. Color Grading
- In post-production, use pastel tones or soft warm tints to enhance the dreamlike feel of your images. Light rose, lavender, and cream colors can add a soft, ethereal vibe to your shots. Adding a slight warmth to the shadows and highlights can increase the overall glow of the image.
- Dive deeper into color grading: Color Grading in Photography
2. Softening Tools
- Tools like clarity and dehaze sliders are helpful when trying to reduce harshness in an image. By using them sparingly, you can soften details in the background, further enhancing the ethereal aesthetic.
- Pro Tip: Avoid using the dehaze slider too much as it can introduce unwanted contrast.
3. Presets
- To maintain consistency across your images, you can create or download ethereal-style presets. Presets save time by applying a pre-set look to your images, ensuring that your photos all have the same gentle, glowing tones.
- Learn how to create your own photography presets: How to Make Own Photography Presets
4. Object Removal
- To maintain the serene and tranquil nature of your photo, remove distracting objects from the background using content-aware tools or cloning tools. This keeps the focus on your subject and helps maintain the soft, peaceful vibe of the image.
- Learn how to remove distractions from your photos: How to Remove Unwanted Objects from Photos
Extra Tips for Ethereal Mastery
- Atmospheric Elements: Incorporate flowing fabrics, mist, or smoke to add an extra layer of mystery to your images.
- Prisms and Filters: Use prisms or sheer fabrics in front of your lens to introduce soft, dreamy effects like light flares and glows.
- Foggy Landscapes: Look for natural settings like foggy forests or cloud-covered fields for an ethereal backdrop.
- Explore how to photograph foggy landscapes: How to Photograph Foggy Landscapes for an Ethereal Look
- Long Exposure: Long exposures can introduce dreamy effects with water, clouds, or light trails. Try using long exposures for night skies or slow-moving water to create an ethereal, surreal look.
- Master long exposure photography: Mastering Long Exposure Landscape Photography
Creating ethereal photos is about blending softness, light, and atmosphere. Whether you're capturing portraits or landscapes, following these techniques will help you infuse a dreamlike quality into your photography. With the right camera settings, lighting techniques, and post-processing tricks, you can turn your photos into ethereal works of art that captivate the viewer’s imagination.
