Using the utensil of your choice, position your photo against the sidewall of the mold. A wooden spoon was used here that was pre-heated in the hot wax. If the spoon were cold, the photo would have stuck to it on contact.

With the photo in place, take a wet washcloth, wet kitchen towel, or wet paper towels and apply it to the exterior of the mold at the location of the photo.

The wet cloth will absorb heat from the wax and it should solidify around the photo fairly quickly. You may have to rotate to use cooler parts of the cloth as needed. The frost that forms inside the mold around the photo is solidified wax that will secure the photo in place long enough for us to get the mold into the water bath.