Advantages of Low Angle Photography

[pashminu]

One of the most popular angles to shoot is from the photographer’s standing point of view. While this is fine with landscape and other general purpose photography, it does not create high impact visually arresting images.





Most of the professional photographers, who have mastered the art of photography by experimenting and self learning, produce stunning and engaging photographs that have been taken from low angle. In landscape photography, the foreground can be captured in detail when the photographer is really low and almost lying on the ground. You can always experiment with low angle photography by going low on the floor and take more engaging photographs.

The low angle allows the viewer a fresh and different perspective of the same scene or situation. In many cases, the low angle provides a vantage view of the location and allows the viewers to explore new perspective of the monument, landscape and sometimes events.

In most of the digital point and shoot as well as SLR cameras it is difficult to get the low angle perspective as the photographer can not view the scene through viewfinder or LCD screen. However in the recent past, some mid-range and DLR cameras have been equipped with tilt or swirl LCD screens. These LCD screens allow the photographer to view the scene by twisting / turning the LCD screen and keeping the camera almost or touching the ground/floor. In case, the floor or ground in not clean or dirt free, the photographer can keep a protective cloth or plastic sheet below the camera and shoot.

A useful accessory, in low angle photography is a small sturdy table top tripod of about 6” (15 cm) in height. This provides more versatility and allows the photographer to capture steady shot in low light conditions like sun sets, twilight etc.

Another important accessory that can be used is a remote control or time release controller to take photographs. Once the camera is setup mounted on the small table top tripod, the composition is finalized and actual shooting can be done from a comfortable distance by using a remote control device. Most of the modern Digital SLRs are compatible with either third party remote controllers or from their respective manufacturers.

Low angle photography can also be used in events and parties that are organized at various occasions. One more advantage, of low angle photography is to capture motion blur of the dancers and performers on the stage. The low angle perspective gives a fresh view point to the audience and adds to the overall excitement of the event.



Capturing children at play from their eye level or lower is yet another advantage of the low angle photography. Photographing children from standing position results in awkward angles and gives a ‘head-on’ perspective. The facial expressions and the innocence can be captured very well when the photographer explorers, experiments and implements low angle photography. When you are clicking photographs of children during any event or function, be sure to go down to their eye level and capture the moments. This will create high impact images, that will have a lasting impression.

In some cases it may not been possible to shoot at low angles, like crowded markets, street photography or travel photography, it is always worth the time and efforts in exploring this type of photography to gain new perspective and take the photography to the next level of expertise.