3.  Get Down - Up - Whatever!



The photos of my cat Tan show that it's often more

effective to get down, or up, to the subject's level, rather than

just stand and shoot.  Shots of babies are almost always

more pleasing and appealing if you get down to their level. 

Who wants to look down on a baby?  If Junior is crawling on

the floor, lay down in front of him and get that cute face where

it belongs, in the main part of the photograph.  A shot of

the top of the baby's head and half of the flooring in the room

isn't even worth the one frame of film it takes to shoot

it.  Get down, and move in, and you'll have a shot you'll

value for life.



Another point regarding the vantage point, or the spot that you

shoot from, is that you can often show the three dimensions of a

scene better from a different position.  For example, you're

going to take a shot of the cabins across the lake from

you.  If you're standing on the shore, the water and the

stuff across the lake is going to be skinny little lines running

through the  center of the shot.  If possible, go up on

a hill on your side a little bit, or possible stand on a

car.  That way more of the water will show up in the shot,

giving it a little more appeal. You could also include some of

the land on your side to add some more depth to the scene.



The same thing happens on dry land.  A scenic view may look

terrific in person, but in the two-dimensional photo world, it

just doesn't have the same effect.  Sometimes zooming in on a

particular part of a scene makes a better shot than the whole

scene.  Or try to include something in the foreground, like a

rock, some hanging branches of a tree, etc., to add some more of

the 3-D effect that's going to be missing in the 2-D photo.

Here again, standing and taking the shot may not be anywhere

near as good as getting down close to the ground and including

some grass, weeds, rocks, a tree trunk, whatever, in the photo

too.



And don't forget the people you're with.  Having someone to

one side of the scene looking at it, whether they're standing,

seated, or lying down, might be just the little added interest

that the photo needs.  But you can't recognize the person if

their back is to the camera while they're looking off in the

distance?  That's one of the tricks of the trade. 

Anything that causes a viewer to pause and wonder, like, 

"Who is that?", generally makes a photo more interesting. 

And a person looking at the scene is going to make the viewer

want to look at it too, and wasn't that the point of the whole

photo in the first place?



How about a room full of people?  Most of the time the

photog just stands there and shoots, hoping to get in whoever he

can. Sometimes the people may be in a nice grouping in the first

place.  If they aren't, maybe have them get together a bit,

some of them seated, some standing, some on the floor, and get up

on a chair, or up a stairway, and shoot down on them while

they're looking up at you.  This will create the effect of a

structured shot while still retaining some candidness.  And

all you had to do was state a brief request and step up onto a

chair or stairway.



On the other hand, the above shot may be more appealing if shot

from a lower angle, providing you can get clear access to

everyone.



Speaking of stairways, if they're the open kind, or especially a

spiral, that can often make a great setting for group shots.

Having people leaning a little on the railing while you're below

shooting up to them creates a neat effect.  Just be careful

that the railing doesn't break and they all fall and land on you.

That smarts!



And for outside shots decks can provide either a nice setting or

a great vantage point.  It will depend on the deck and it's

height.  Use your imagination and you can't lose.