Perspective – Inanimate objects.

Perspective is defined bluntly as “a view or point of view” and can be taken in a literal sense or figuratively. For example, My perspective makes the building look taller (point of view) versus From my perspective apples are best eaten from the tree. In this writing, I refer to perspective as “a view or point of view” in it’s most literal sense.

Perspective comes into play in many ways in photography. It can flatten objects, make them look bigger or smaller. It can dictate the framing of a photo and thus make it nicer to the eyes when viewing.

Perspective turns the “bland” into something special. It turns the everyday shot into something different. Something more original.

Let’s look at some examples.

First is a series of shots of a lantern.

Nothing particularly beautiful about any of them BUT I think you will agree that the last photo, which was framed better and shot from a lower perspective – point of view – is easier on the mind in terms of acceptance. The first shot is typical, hold the camera to your face and shoot while the second is a waist shot and while a good representation of the object itself, is still a little boring.

Another four shots. The left two are the plain drab boring things that you ALWAYS see from people who are either limited physically in kneeling down or limited mentally in becoming creative.

Notice how on the ones on the right, while not award winning by any stretch is more interesting than the plain old shots you always see.

The rule of thirds.

You can achieve your rule of thirds in the field or on your computer by cropping.

The rule of thirds is a perspective that generally gives one a mental acceptable of a photo because it seems more pleasing or flows better into the brain – or mind. Whatever.

And while the rule of thirds can make for a pleasant photo it does NOT ALWAYS APPLY. And all rules are meant to be broken. Don’t feel constrained or relegated to only shooting in the rule of thirds rule. Do what LOOKS good. But have this concept in your repertoire of ability – your tools that you can use at your disposal.

Last, PURPOSE!

Yes, what is your purpose? Do you want to make pretty art, do you want to illustrate something for someone for educational purposes? This is another factor you need to look at when shooting anything. What’s the purpose? What are you trying to communicate?

For example, the pink dahlias toward the beginning of this writing. The boring plain photo better illustrates what the flower looks like while the unusual perspective photo is more artistic. In books on flowers you will mostly see the boring photos of flowers shot straight on or from above. But it serves their purpose in showing YOU the reader what the flowers look like so that when you happen upon them, you have a representation that isn’t obscure or artsy which may but likely will not help you in identifying such.

In fact anything you are trying to sell, rent or get rid of, to another person should have the purpose of showing the viewer in a straight forward manner as to what it is.

In short, next time you photograph take a look at doing some unusual perspectives. It’s great to capture the cliché “Kodak moment” type photos, but think outside the box too!