About The Point Of View's Selection
Selecting the point of view from
which you see and photograph
your subject does not make a difference
only in your main
subject's appearance and the ways
in which it is perceived by the
picture-viewers, but also determines
the relation between all
other elements in your picture
with the main subject, and all
of
the elements together with the
edges of the picture area's frame.
As in this calm and peaceful,
but unusually-looking neighborhood
scene that was altered in appearance
by having been turned up
side down, after being photographed
as a puddle-reflection with
the ground, grass and daisies
surrounding it. An off-beat point
of view, the camera angle and
the presence of the water and
electricity polls -- all contributed
to this, unique in its way
composition, that was instrumental
in transforming this
Midwestern scene into a nostalgically
looking tropical(exotic)
place. When an eye-level point
of view is commonly used by the
novices to photography, and produces
a view that is unobtrusive
in appearance, a slight change
in camera angle down or up, makes
a difference not only in a sense
of the notice ability of your
main subject and surrounding it
secondary elements, becoming more
noticeable, but also in the filling
conveyed by the photographed
at a lower or higher angle subjects.
Looking straight up at your
subject, or in other words, having
a low point of view, conveys
an atmosphere of grandeur, mystery
and honor, often commanding
respect for the subject. While
looking straight down on it, tends
to flatten a space below, minimizing
your subjects and reducing
them to their often simple graphic
elements, and thus, creating a
certain pattern among them. In
the photo of the fishermen fishing
at the dam, a high camera angle
flattening the subjects'
appearance, reduced their size
to the graphic elements and
compressing their shapes, turned
them into the tiny and dark
specks silhouetting against the
light background of the river.
