Photography Tutorial - What's Your Angle?

Many times when we're taking photos we just point the camera and click the button. And when we're just trying to quickly capture the moment, that's ok. However, sometimes we want to create an image to convey a particular feeling or perspective, and that's when we really want to take some time to get it just right. One of the (many) things that can make a big different in an image is the angle the photo is being taken from. My husband and I were just on a cruise, and if you've ever been on a cruise ship, you'll know that sometimes the décor is absolutely amazing! We were wandering around the ship one day, and came across these beautiful tall chairs, so just for fun I wanted to have my picture taken sitting in one. I'm always telling him to take photos of me from a higher angle (makes me look skinnier!) so he ended up snapping three, which you can see below. The only thing that moved between these three photos was his hand holding the camera, but what a difference that made! The first was the angle he would normally take a picture from. Not only is it not a flattering photo of me, it doesn't show the height of the chair at all, which was the main thing I wanted to show in the photo. Had this been the only photo he took, I would have been quite disappointed with the result. [caption id="attachment_531" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Angle #1 - A Little Low[/caption] The second photo was taken pretty much at a straight-on angle. As you can tell, it's definitely a more flattering photo of me, and also starts to show the height of the chair (they were really tall chairs!). [caption id="attachment_532" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Angle 2 - Straight Ahead[/caption] And finally - the winner! This is not only a good photo of me (always important!) but it also does a beautiful job of showing off how tall the chairs really were, the point of the whole exercise to begin with! And remember, the only thing that moved between these three photos was my husband's hand as he moved the camera higher. [caption id="attachment_533" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Angle 3 - From Above[/caption] So why not try experimenting a little? Stand or sit in front of something -- anything -- even a chair, and snap photos as you move your camera up and down to see the results. If you practice on everyday objects when you have the time, then when you see something that you want to create an image of (and remember that's different than just snapping photo) you'll know exactly what to do in order to create the image just as you imagine it.