The viewer is compelled to look at world in a new way

Harnessing the tricks of the trade creates powerful, gripping images with room for interpretation

The Duke of Sussex certainly shows promise as a photographer. He avoids many of the pitfalls fallen into by amateurs – and some pros. With a good eye for the compositional tricks of the trade,

he above all ensures he does not bore us by shooting only from eye-level.

A black-and-white picture of a rhino is his best shot, in my opinion, using a number of techniques to produce a powerful image. Psychologically, the effect of the low-angle shot is that it makes the subject look strong and powerful. It is also shot close-up, which makes the viewer feel they are almost present.

He also employs one of my favourite tricks: if you were to draw a line from the horn to the feet it would be diagonal, creating points of interest and giving the image depth. It’s the ambiguity I love. What is going on? Is the rhino resting, is it hurt, is it simply

caught in a moment on the move? The photo leaves room for interpretation, making it all the more rewarding for the viewer.

Sunrise and sunsets are viewed by some as a photographic cliché. The Duke just about avoids that in his Okavango Delta shot by using the feather to frame the sun.

The desert lion is another favourite. How often do we get to look into the

eye of a big cat? A long lens and imagination does the trick. And there’s that use of the diagonal again. The Duke is compelling us to look at the world in a different way.

It is, of course, impossible to really compare the chalk and cheese of environmental and portrait photograph.

The Duchess of Cambridge’s photographs of Prince Louis, like other birthday pictures of her children, are a loving and personal moment captured on camera for the family album and the history books.

You can employ a number of styles to portraiture and the Duchess has chosen the simple method of using

‘How often do we get to look into the eye of a big cat? The Duke compels us to look at the world in a different way’

natural light and a shallow depth of field. She has used both perfectly.

Placing Louis in a shaded area so that he is illuminated by diffused light avoids any harsh shadows across his face, while at the same time producing a bright colourful background. Because she has used a wide aperture, she has softened the background to a gentle blur, helping to isolate the subject and avoid distractions. She also avoids placing Louis directly in the centre of the landscape image, which is a definite plus in my book.

In my opinion, the only real failure from our royal photographers is the Duke’s picture from Norway.

Do not chop a whale in half.