This post is part of a series from Rick Braveheart. our wonderful resident photographer. Please see more of his work here.

I’ve now returned to Ohio from a month living and photographing in Western North Carolina. Over the past few weeks I received many requests for more details on several topics I wrote about in this blog while I was there, and nearly three dozen emails I received asking for more photography tips. To begin working my way through these great requests, today I’ll discuss one new photo tip and technique and show examples of images from North Carolina where they were used. (NOTE: for those readers who like following along on my photo travels, the next trip begins in early February.)

Change Your Point of View

A frequent question I’m asked in public talks, workshops and on this blog deals with how I compose or frame images. When photographs show a subject from a slightly different perspective, I believe it helps create interest and get the viewer more involved in the photograph. And, as the photographer, it can also help you stay in shape! Here are two easy ways to change perspective.

(A) Get closer: When my eye is drawn to a particular subject like a horse, flower or tree I want that subject to be the primary element the viewer sees in the photograph. To do that, I often physically move closer so that the subject becomes larger in the viewfinder. And when I can’t physically move closer, for example, when photographing a large bison or elk, I use a zoom lens to bring the subject closer. Instead of simply making a photograph from where you happen to be standing, walk closer and let it fill more of the frame.

(B) Get Down! Get Up! The photographs most people take are made at eye level, or a height of 5 to 5.5 feet. While there’s nothing wrong with that, it can result in images that look nice but that aren’t too interesting. To change perspective, change the height where you photograph by kneeling or laying on the ground and shooting upward, or climbing a hill or standing on a ladder table or rock and shooting downward. Either way it can sometimes add an interesting perspective to your photographs.

IMAGES MADE WHILE KNEELING (LEFT) AND LAYING ON GROUND (RIGHT)


Let Aristotle Help Your Photography!

Don’t let the word Aristotle turn you off! A concept he came up with can help you create images people find intriguing. Take a few moments to learn more.

In reply to several questions I received that asked how often I crop images, I’d say that I crop or trim roughly 15% of the digital images I make. (I never crop film images because I feel their original size is part of their character.) Since the last blog entry described cropping digital images to create long, wide photographs this time lets discuss cropping images based on the Golden Ratio.

Through the work of Aristotle the Greeks determined that there was a certain ratio of height to width that was most aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Specifically, it’s the ratio of 1 to 1.648. Pyramids were designed based on this ratio. Similarly, Leonardo da Vinci used the Golden Ratio to create the Mona Lisa. And, as I did last month in several images from the mountains of North Carolina, those rules can also be applied to photography.

TWO PHOTOS BASED ON THE GOLDEN RATIO

Most digital cameras create images with a height to width ratio of roughly 1 to 1.5 which produces a photograph with a size of 4×6, 8×12 and so on. On the other hand, photographs whose size is based on the Golden Ratio would be about 4 x 6.5 inches, 8×13 inches and so on. Although I normally let the subject in a photograph guide me in determining how tall and wide to crop an image, occasionally I crop based on the Golden Ratio and quite often find the results hard to resist. (NOTE: See the previous blog entry for more information on cropping a photograph by using a computer program or by using a kiosk at a photo processing store.)