Photography Composition Rule about Perspective - Change your 'Point of View' to shoot Stunning Photographs

Many of the photographs look because they are unusual, but question is what makes those photographs unusual? In any kind of art, we can appreciate that we are liking this art-piece and at times there are reasons to share why someone likes a particular art, but it's challenging when we try to find an answer what made this art special and how such art-piece can be created. And to make things more complex, every art has science associated but at the end artistic aspects make an art special. Today we will try to the very first we asked in this post through one method to make your photographs look unusual, which is change your point of view when clicking a photograph. 

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Most photos are taken from eye level and mostly in standing position or the default position. Getting high up or low down can be a way of creating a more interesting and original composition of a familiar subject. We have often seen wildlife photographers in particular lying in the mud on their bellies to get the perfect shot. If you see above photograph it's clicked while sitting down and then clicking this vendor with his stuff & some part of India Gate in background. 

When trying to click a photograph, try and think of unique ways to view it.  Think about getting up high, getting as low as possible, or somewhere in between. Everyone in the world sees things from eye level. To create a really eye catching photo, a good place to start is by getting out of the eye level range. 

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Above photograph is clicked by sitting down on the ground and that's why the perspective is different. In above photograph, if I would have clicked it by keeping camera at my eye level, I would have got lot of people in the background. So instead, I sat down and brought sky in the background which is not as cluttered as crowd in the background would have created. In this case, more people were standing close-by, so it was also hard to blur them efficiently.

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Sometimes finding that perfect point of view may mean you doing crazy things. Above photograph is clicked in a stepwell when it was raining. To get this shot with rain-drops visible in the photograph I had to stand in rain for some time to get right photograph. 

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At times, I have laid down on ground to click photographs. Stood on stack of chairs, climbed mountains to just click one photograph. So it's very important to envision what is the right place to click your subject and at what angle?  

Look through your viewfinder as you try different points of views helps you chose the view which is more unusual. If you are using a zoom lens, try zooming it over the entire range from these different points of views to see how that affects the image.  I find the combination of getting low and close and then using a wide angle lens is a great way to get started. Above photograph is clicked while sitting and wide angle. That was the only way I could have frame the high Qutub minar with these pillars. 

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But how to get into the habit of changing your point of view? 

Changing your routine is one way and that also throws lot of opportunities on your way. Change the place where you regularly eat your meal or take morning tea. Use different cup for your glass of milk, observe vapours coming out of it when it's super hot. When you take this mug to different parts of the house, you will see density of same vapours look different around different places. How many times, you have laid down on the floor and looked at different things in your house. How many times you have sat on the floor in your balcony instead of standing or taking a chair. Try what you don't do usually. You will be surprised that same things around you would look differently and that way you can express your vision through different point of views.  

Making these types of changes bring awareness to your perspective that there is more to the story than simply the picture you have developed. 

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When standing at a place and you have found your subject, it makes sense to see other points of view as much as possible. Make it a habit not to settle for your first point of view as the only shot you take.  Look for ways to get high, or a lower angle that can really change perspective for you.   

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The more you force yourself to do this kind of exercise, the easier it will become for you to imagine these points of view before you even put your camera to your eye. And click multiple photograph. At times, you can better decide later which point of view is better than others.

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Other links to on 'Change your Point of View' from Photography perspective :

Digital Photography School

New York Film Academy

iPhone Photography School