The Power of Perspective in Photography

How you shoot a scene determines what kind of story you want to tell and what kind of mood you want viewers to feel when they look at a photo. The power of perspective is beyond the consideration of your photography subjects; it is about the angle of your camera, your proximity to the subjects and what you include in the frame that plays an important role in your final image.

Below are examples of different perspectives and why you’d want to take a photograph in that way.

Examples of Different Perspectives

Shoot from a low position and straight on – to get the perspective of a child

Shoot downward – to get a sense of scale (ie, that the child is small), to eliminate distracting elements in the background, or to get natural catchlights in your subject’s eyes

Shoot upward — to turn tall scenery, like trees or cityscape, into the backdrop

Shoot wide – to show the environment

Shoot up-close – to give an intimate feel or to highlight a particular action or detail

Include reflections – to give an additional dimension to an image

Shoot behind things – to make it feel like you’re peeking into a private moment

What you’ll find is:  PERSPECTIVE influences a viewer’s PERCEPTION!

Conclusions:

1. Before you press the shutter, take a moment to think about how you want your subject to be perceived in the image. Is there anything you want to highlight? A story you want to tell?
2. You don’t need fancy camera equipment or a bunch of expensive lenses to create different perspectives. You just need creativity and the ability to move around…and BAM! You have it all.

Have you got some others to share? Please do in the comments below.

For more on perspective see these:

• Perspective in Photography – Don’t just stand there move your feet!
• Why are my Buildings Falling Over? A Short Guide to Perspective Distortion and Correction in Photography
• 10 Most Common Mistakes in Landscape Photography – and How to Overcome Them