Get a New Perspective By Getting High… with your Camera
Regular readers of DPS will know of my love for shooting from down low to get an image that emphasizes the height of subjects.
I love the way shooting from ground level creates wonderful foregrounds and puts a completely new perspective of familiar scenes. In addition to this it’s great for photographing children, pets and wildlife as it really puts you on their level and helps you enter their world.
However photography is a wonderful thing because sometimes it’s when you go to extremes that you can get the best shots. While shooting from low down leads to interesting shots - so does getting up high and shooting down on your subject.
Here are six reasons why shooting from up high can be something worth considering:
- flattens objects - shooting down on a scene tends to flatten it out. While this can mean depth of field doesn’t come into play as much it can highlight patterns, textures and shapes well.
- no horizons - photographing a scene below you eliminates horizons and skies. This means less big empty blue spaces in your shots and hopefully more points of interest.
- less distracting backgrounds - because most of your scene will be the same distance from your lens you might find yourself with less (or no) backgrounds to have to scan before you snap your shot.
- group shots - if you’re photographing a large group of people, shooting from up high is a great way to fit everyone in as less space is filled up with legs and torsos and more filled up with faces.
- shadows - I love shooting from up high at the start or end of a day when shadows are at their longest. When shooting from ground level at such times the light can be wonderful but it’s almost impossible to get a full shadow in frame. Shooting down captures the way light hits objects in ways that can give a whole new perspective on a subject.
- new perspectives - sometimes it is difficult to photograph familiar objects in a way that keeps them looking fresh and interesting. I’m thinking of iconic buildings or structures for example. Shooting from up high can reveal things about those objects that no one may have seen before.
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Great article - I always try and shoot from somewhere up hight to get the whole party when I do a wedding - the happy couples always love that shot. It also means to double chins when everyone is looking up!
Nice article. I’ve used the “getting high” technique at a normal business meeting where the attendees are focusing on an easel where they’re brainstorming, I got behind the easel and held the camera above my head and it creates a more interesting photo (as interesting as meetings go at least). :-)
Any techie tips on how to “get high” with your camera would be appreciated. I know that patience is a photographers virtue, but standing and shooting with your DSLR high up on a pole and more or less getting random results, out of focus of focus blur, is a wee bit frustrating, it’s not always possible to around with a 5-10ft ladder :)
Recently I tried photographing in a new arts centre shooting down into the central atrium and emphasising the multi levels but found I had insufficient light to obtain sharp images. To light the scene would have called for ‘Hollywood’ batteries of lights. Any suggestions on how to overcome that problem?
very helpfull.
Way cool. Shooting straight down onto the subject is usually not the first thought that runs through my head. From now on, it will at least cross my mind from time to time.
About the shadows in the up-above pictures, there’s this National Geographic photo which is worth mentioning:
http://ajaydsouza.com/archives/2006/03/18/what-is-so-special-about-this-photo/
Great article with really fantastic photos. This is a site I will be back to.
Great! For those who want to start photography, like me such new ideas means a lot. It’s cool.