Photography 101: Rules for composition; point of view

Get low for a child's point of view.
Photo courtesy of rpmediate.com

So there you are, taking a picture of your little nephew Jimmy, and you are wondering why your pictures can't look like the pictures your favorite pro photographer take. I have three words for you: get down low!

One of the biggest things you can do to improve your picture taking is to get to the eye level of your subject. It doesn't matter if that means climbing up on top of your car, or getting down and dirty in the garden to show off those flowers. Here's why:

When you walk around, you view the world from somewhere between 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 (or so) feet off the ground. Because of this, you know what the world looks like from this height above or below your main subject. So when you take pictures at your eye level, you get boring, predictable pictures. So, for that great shot of little Jimmy, bend over, get on your knees, or lay on your belly, and get him from his level. Do you have a sunflower that stands 6 1/2 feet tall? Grab out a step stool and get to its level.

Then there are the times when you are shooting a subject that is already at your eye level. In those cases, you still probably want to change your point of view. Getting a bit lower than your subject can give a sense of grandeur to your subject, making them look larger than life. Want to put your subject in the middle of a scene? Grab out your step ladder and wide angle lens and make them look a bit smaller.

Finally, experiment with focal lengths. Wide angle lenses can give you a lot of separation from your background. They do this by being able to see so much that the farther away you get from the lens, the smaller things get. A great example of this can be found here.

Telephoto lenses, on the other hand, can have the effect of making the subject appear much closer to the background; this is because the magnification of the lens magnifies the background to appear closer to the subject. This can be great to make your subject appear closer to a far away skyline, or to cut out clutter in your pictures. Find a great example here.

Most importantly, get out there and shoot! Experiment with your point of view. Maybe you can try an extreme version of getting below your normal point of view and create something wild. Maybe you can use your wide angle lens for a portrait and show off your subject in a new, exciting way. Remember that shooting with digital doesn't cost you a thing; if you don't like it you can delete it. And, if you keep some of those bad pictures, show them to someone you trust that knows photography; they might be able to explain why your shot didn't turn out.