Angles to give creativity to your pictures

Now that some of you have learned the lighting, composition, ‘DOF’and ‘POI’, it is time to give your pictures a creative touch. Usually while photographing one always stand looking face-on to their subject when they press the shutter button. Well there is nothing wrong at with it. But if one needs a different picture they have to start virtually start exercising while photographing.

The eye level picture (top left), the overhead picture (top right) and the low angle picture (left). See the varing angles which gives creativity to the pictures. - Model Pankaj Advani. - Professional Billiards Champion, 2009. Photo courtesy A Veeramani. DNA

This can be done only if you start moving from one position to another to get a better perspective to your images. For eg: look at you coffee cup from the position you are sitting while reading this, then gradually stand up and see the change in the angle, better still stand up on the chair and look directly at the cup, looks different right. Now get down and crouch on your knee, so that the table top and cup’s bottom is at you eye level, doesn’t it have a different perspective again. Now put this use to practical photography and one will get the static subject in different perspective with every angle you change.

‘Center of Interest’ a must to keep the viewer focused

After one has mastered the art of lighting, composition and depth of field one needs to look for the ‘Center of Interest’ or “Point of Interest’, in their images they are going to picture. Each picture should have only one principal idea, topic, or center of interest to which the viewer's eyes are attracted. Subordinate elements within the picture must support and focus attention on the principal feature. A picture without a dominant center of interest or one with more than one dominant center of interest is puzzling to a viewer which will confuse the viewer. A photographer usually has at his or her disposal many factors or elements that can be used and arranged within the picture area to direct attention to the primary idea of the picture. Some of these elements are lines, shapes, human figures, tone, and texture.

Human figures attract attention more strongly than almost any other subject matter, unless they are the main object of the photograph. When people are subordinate elements within the picture and they are looking in a direction other than at the camera, the viewer’s attention is directed from the people to what they are looking at, which should be the center of interest; for example, when people are grouped around a piece of machinery that is the center of interest of the picture, have them look at the machine, rather than the camera. When people look at the camera and therefore at the viewer of the picture, the viewer tends to return their gaze by looking directly back into their eyes. When they are not the intended point of interest, we miss the statement and purpose of the picture.

Photograph Courtesy - Anantha Subramanyam K. DNA