Photo from Ed Krimen’s “Fort Funston” album
© Copyright Ed Krimen
The distance between the camera lens and your subject, and the angle of the shot itself, can greatly influence the shot’s resulting impact.
In this article on fotohacker.com, Jason Paterson writes that he is tired of looking at photos of subjects shot straight on at eye-level. He believes we can all learn to take more dynamic and, therefore, more visually interesting photographs by simply changing the position of the camera.
Here are some of the camera angles he suggests:
- Lower Angles. When you shoot from beneath the subject, you give the subject a feeling of power.
- Higher Angles. When shot from above, a subject often appears smaller or less significant.
- Tilted or “Dutch” Angles. These photos can produce a feeling of energy or excitement, or leave the viewer with a feeling that not all is right.
- Framed Angles. Using the environment to frame your subject, this is a technique we discussed in greater depth in this blog post.
You can also consider the viewpoint of each photo:
- Subjective. The subject appears to be looking at the camera and interacting with it as though it were a person.
- Objective. The subject appears to be oblivious to the camera.
Be sure to read Jason’s complete article for additional thoughts on this subject and, let us know in the comments, how do you try to liven up your camera angles?
