Tip 7: Change Your Point of View

Lesson Info

Tip 7: Change Your Point of View

Tip number seven is change your point of view this will also really help take your compositions to a whole another level so this is one of my favorite examples this was shot in a park in downtown miami would you have guessed that probably not? I don't know when I look at it I'm like oh that's it some like amazing beach park or like I don't know out west somewhere but no this was in downtown miami and what's really interesting about this shot if he's only like two feet off the ground he's jumping from these huge rocks that aren't really so huge they're just on a grassy I mean, I'm laying on the ground to capture that photo but the reason I chose to do this it makes a really cool and dynamic image but it was actually this composition was born out of necessity because we were at this park and I didn't know that when we were there that day there was also going to be like a safety fair going on and so there is like if I had stood up to capture this we would have seen a parking lot over here...

filled with fire trucks and like first responders and all these legs you know, rescue heroes on dh kids who are like touring the fire truck and all of those types of things and I when I first got to that park I thought oh how am I going to shoot around fire trucks and ambulances and this huge parking lot that's everywhere so I just looked for high ground and we went on what I what could be considered a hill slightly andi I found these rocks and then I got lower which made the rocks in the hill and everything seemed even higher and it allowed me to shoot this without seeing any of the ambulance and like the real life stuff so I could just remove basically the background and I didn't even have to make a selection and photos I just had to lay on the ground and get funky like that so I think that totally made this image and I love it and he looked like, you know, a daredevil who like cliff jumping or something and it was really much simpler than that here's another photo with the same concept so on the playground chasing the kids around you know you don't get to sit on the bench and just oh, hey go down the slide that I won't take your picture from here with my big the homeless you at least I think to get these really dynamic shots you have to get active I mean I look like a disaster when I leave a session with kids because I wore a wedding really any of them because I'm like running around climbing things crawling through the dirt like it's a messy pursuit to take pictures that are dynamic and powerful because you have to get involved just like life so here I had climbed up on top of this claiming thing that's like one of those ladders looks like a tube of circles apparently so she was in there climbing up so I claimed raced up to the top to try to beat her and it's a lot of hold on I'm trying to be to do it again so she within there and I was able to get this and see like kind of centered in this when I look at that she's not quite off to the third and maybe not quite centered either but this is one that might might work to be centered because of the rings that's kind of interesting so you just have to take your compositions you know as you go but the key is to really be conscious about what you're shooting, how you're shooting it where you are, where you're subjects are what going on with your background all that stuff here's another example from another client session and I love this because this was just shot in their yard again I was laying on the ground a lot of times when clients want me to come shoot at their house that's awesome I love shooting at people's houses especially if they're in a neighborhood with like tall trees and I can get find shade and all of that but a lot of my clients would be living in like new developments there's just little seedlings and I go out in their yard and I'm like, oh my gosh there's nothing there's a huge fence and a bunch of graft no shade whatsoever and son just like beaming down and I'm like, how am I not going to take a heinous photo out here? So I changed my point of view and I changed my perspective and I end up laying down and shooting up on I make the sky be the background and depending on which direction you're shooting, I can just make the sky just white so it's just this white harry I like to have white skies I mean, not all the time, of course, but in some cases like here I love the white sky because you just get this ethereal sort of glowy very fresh, very light look and I think it's fun so changing your perspective can save you and a lot of situations here's another example this is from some fancy restaurant in morocco uh I don't know how we found this it was near where we were staying, but it was it was like part museum and part night club it was the craziest, most far out thing you've ever seen and apparently lots of celebrities have been here I don't know it's really interesting but this was like the red room. And I captured it from like, a catwalk above looking down. And I just thought it was really interesting competition with the tables and the pattern of the floor. And I don't know, very funky. So wouldn't have seen that view if I hadn't gone up there.

Class Description

Lessons

1. Tip 1: Quit Blaming the Camera

   These simple tips will help you take better photos. No special tools required!

2. Tip 2: Don't Be a Flasher!
3. Tip 3: Get Closer!
4. Tip 4: Shoot the Story
5. Tip 5: Hold the Cheese Please!
6. Tip 6: Frame it
7. Tip 7: Change Your Point of View
8. Tip 8: Practice Mindfulness
9. Tip 9: Your Camera is Not the Boss of You!
10. Tip 10: Practice!
11. Tips Q&A