Have you ever tried to feel the difference of clicking a particular subject from two different viewing angles? It does make a notable difference in the meaning, message and mood that each creates. Working smartly with the shooting angles is a requisite skill for any photographer to acquire.
Consider clicking a person. In a simple sense, the photo can be taken from eye level, from the bottom up or from the top. But looking at the pictures, you can instantly spot the difference in the sense it gives out. The eye level shot maybe giving a balanced image and a good focus on the person’s features. A bottom up picture gives a sense of a superior stature of the person in the frame. The shot from over the head shows more innocence in the person.
Thus, the knowledge of which angle suits an image best is to be acquired from photography courses. While a commonplace assumption about taking pictures from different angles is mostly very amateur, in fact, it has a lot of potential to bring out the effect of the picture. If you are in a photography school already, the following discussion on working with angles in photography should be like a review. Others can gain some interesting tips from it.
Shoot to the heavens if it creates perfect awe.
Not every scene is a great one for bottom up shots. But where it is, the image gives a sense of amazement the photographer has for the subject. For example, if you are impressed by the expanse and opulence of the cityscape, shoot it from the bottom up and let the towering buildings in the frame put the viewer in awe.
A bird’s eye view is amazing as it feasts the eye with an expanse.
The higher the position you click from, the greater is the expanse of a scene in the frame that you can get. When the valley is full of flowers, there’s no shot like one from the top of a hill, covering the nature’s splendour all in one frame! Or tell us if you were ever impressed by a view of the Palm island except from an aerial shot.
Bring dynamism by tilting the frame.
Do you want to make the viewer feel the action of cyclist riding on the road? Try tilting the frame a little to give the impression that the cyclist is riding a diagonal path, suggesting vigorous activity. This gives the viewer a similar perspective as the subject in the frame.
Shoot from the level of your subject’s height.
Consider taking a kid’s photo. It always comes out great if taken from the height of the child! So kneel down and take the pic from the subject’s height when it’s about a kid, your pet, or that plant in your garden.
Combine these tips with different types of shots like close-ups and long shots. Apply knacks of photography like adding backgrounds, capturing reflections or including shadows for stunningly expressive pictures. Make the best of photography classes and practice to perfect these techniques.
Hamstech’s photography courses encourage students to explore and innovate ideas, frames and techniques. You too can be a part of an enthusiastic group of such budding photographers if you wish to.