This summer one of my goals is to break out of my photography comfort zone, get out my camera’s manual, and try some new tricks. So I thought I would share with you some tips on the importance of perspective when shooting a subject. Your perspective can completely change the feel and mood of a photograph. It can make it more pleasing to the eye, and more interesting. Take a look at some examples:
The perspective of this shot of the Los Angeles Temple is fairly close to the building on the back side. It’s a portrait orientation and was meant to show how tall the building is, and how small it made me feel.
The perspective of this shot was across the street on the same side of the building and was meant to show the overall beauty and grandeur of the building with the setting sun lighting it well. Same building, same side, totally different perspectives that convey totally different feelings.
This is a shot of my daughter on her 6th grade graduation day against the brick wall of the school building. I took this shot straight on landscape orientation.
For this shot I used the exact same section of the brick wall, but I moved myself closer to it and had her turn her body and lean up against it. This shot is much more interesting and dynamic. The angle of the bricks on the wall draw the eye back to the subject. Same background, different perspective, much better shot.
For this shot of my daughter hunting for bugs in our yard I was standing with my knees bent taking the shot from above her.
For this shot I was in the exact same spot as the first shot just seconds later but I sat down on the grass and got down on my daughter’s level. I love that this shot feels like you’re right there hunting for bugs with her. Whole different perspective than the first shot.
So here’s my challenge: play around with perspective during your next photo shoot. Try standing over your subject, getting down on your subject’s level, shooting from a different side, changing your camera’s orientation, shooting at an angle, and see what that does to your photographs. Have fun!
Great ideas, thanks for the tips.
Had just seen the idea of not shooting square on to our kids…your example totally reinforces this! So subtle and just the hints I need to work with. Thanks! They're great shots!