Change up your angles

It’s time for a New Years resolution. Say it with me. “This year, I vow to change my dried up shooting angles.”

Let’s be frank. The dead-on angle of view is dead. Very few pictures look good when you pose your subject and take a straight, eye-level picture of them.

By simply changing the position of the camera higher, lower, or tilting it, you can come up with some much more exciting results.

This is usually a matter of playing with the composition in the viewfinder of the camera, and looking for something that works, but the trick is to actually play with it. Don’t just look at your subject, look at their surroundings and inject the photo with some elements that include those surroundings or alter the perception of your main subject.

Covering all the angles

Lower angles, where you shoot from a position below the subject, create a feeling of power and intimidation. They make the subject appear larger than life.

Higher angles, shot from above, create a feeling of submission around the subject, making them appear smaller and less significant.

Tilted angles can create a feeling of energy and excitement in a photo, since your eyes and brain are forced into “straightening” the photograph inside your head.

Framed angles are those where you shoot your subject in context with something in their environment - through an arch, or behind a tree. While the framing element may not be the focal point of the picture, it plays a prominent compositional role.

Subjective and Objective Viewpoints

The Subjective View is one where your subject is looking at the camera, giving the impression of interaction or connection with the viewer.

An Objective View is one where you catch the subject interacting with something or someone in their environment (apparently) oblivious of the camera.