Change Your Perspective
With time your holiday snapshots may seem a little common-place. It all looks like something you have shot before or perhaps your neighbour’s photos are almost identical to yours. No need to despair, just a few tiny adjustments will let you create very different and interesting photos. The best news may be that taking different and interesting photos does not necessarily require any new equipment.
A New Angle
By changing your perspective and mixing the different types of images mentioned in the following, you can become the owner of an exciting and highly varied photo album. Choosing the right perspective helps emphasize the intention behind your photos, for instance, trees may seem taller, towns may seem larger, and children may seem more attentive. In other words, perspective helps emphasising the story your photos convey.
Up Close
Once in a while, you should try getting really close to your subjects. Many cameras have a mode that allows you to get really close to your subject while shooting (the macro mode). Many environments contain interesting subjects that are well suited for getting really close. Such subjects could be: flowers in the park, insects in a field, ice crystals on a branch or something as ordinary as a coin. Your imagination is the only limit. Macro photos will often spice up your photo album because they allow the audience to get really close to a subject.
Get extremely close to a world that only few people are familiar with.
Nikon D200, 200mm micro, f/5.6 1/250 second, ISO 400.
The Worm’s Eye View
Just once in a while a quite ordinary subject will become a little more interesting if you shoot it from below. This is a method you can also use for making a subject appear taller in a photo. Your subject could be a palm, a person, a building, or perhaps even an animal if you can get close enough. Play around with it, and you will soon discover the advantages of the worm’s eye view.
Children at Eye Level
There are probably few subjects that are more charming than happy kids, no matter if they are on vacation, playing at home, in kindergarten or at school. Many adults have a tendency to shoot children the way we usually see them, that is, from adult height looking down at the child. This is hardly the best approach. Get down on your knees, when you get down to the child's eye level, take your photos from that position. This will immediately bring better results and the children you are shooting will also appear more involved.
Nikon D40x, 70-200mm VR, f/2.8, 1/1000 second, ISO 200.
The Bird’s Eye View
No matter how interesting looking at subjects from below can be, looking at them from above can be just as interesting. This is a good method for conveying a sense of the size of large areas. You can use this method for documenting entire towns, a marketplace or a square. Try finding a tall building from where you can take photos of all the surroundings. In most towns you will find a city hall, a church with a tall steeple or other buildings that are open to the public. Make your way past the many birds and try out this new perspective.
When you have finished reading about perspective you may want to read about composition.
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