The Photography Tip of the Week #047

Posted by Philip in Podcast

047 Photography Tip of the Week (audio)

Eye to Eye

You do it.  I do it.  It’s especially noticeable during birthday parties and family gatherings.  As a photographer you want to be as mobile as possible getting every possible angle.  So you (and I) stand up while everyone else is seated.  Yeah we hover like photographic vultures looking for our next prey.  It’s natural, it’s easy, and it’s very much average.  Looking down on party goers puts you, the photographer, in a position of superiority.  It draws you above the scene and away from the action making your photos more or less snapshots that people will quickly flip through.

Here’s the challenge at your next party.  Sit down.  Sit down as if you’re just another attender and take your photos eye-to-eye.  Just like getting down to the level of your subject in portrait shots, with this point of view you remove your superiority and allow your photos to be ones that draw you in.  You do give up your mobility in favor of a vantage point that makes your photos more like being there.

When I searched for images I’ve taken that’s a good example of the wrong perspective, I couldn’t find any recent shots, so I had to take one at a party today.  This image is nice and close.  You have a well defined subject and action.  The image needs a bit of explaining but that’s not the problem.  The high point of view makes it average and easily skipped when someone looks through your shots.

One thing I like to do is to use my 50mm prime lens so I can get in close and blur out the background.  It also allows me to take shoots without a flash in most indoor lighting situations.  And sitting next to the birthday girl I can easily get great action shots.  Even though you can’t see the subjects eyes in either of these images being in an eye-to-eye level makes it easier to have more compelling images.