Tips To Make Your Photos More Creative Using Camera Angles – Arun Babu, General Manager of Electronic Imaging and Optical Device, Fujifilm India

Photographs can evoke hidden emotions, trigger nostalgia, and can give you a sense of déjà vu. When these pictures are put together, they can paint an entire story, which one can keep on admiring for hours. A photograph gives one the liberty to imagine and curate a story with no borders. But, clicking a picture is not as easy as it seems. Not every picture can leave an impact. Capturing an impactful picture that imprints itself on the mind of the audience is a form of art. It requires patience and understanding of both position and angle of an object, which greatly influences the outcome of one’s photo.

With the ever-evolving technologies, today everyone is entitled to a camera, making photography a hobby more than an art. People often believe that beautiful pictures can be captured only with goodquality cameras. While a camera plays an important role, the silent hero that makes an enticing picture is the angle in which it is captured. The camera angles when used effectively can leave a huge and long-lasting impact on the viewers. The perfect angle can enrich a photo with voice, visual purpose and give them an emotional appeal.

As a photographer, one needs to take care of learning the art of manoeuvring angles such that it adds volume and therefore engages with the audience. The art of storytelling through pictures leaves an imprint only when you get your camera angles right. Below are five useful tips for choosing creative picture angles that are easy to implement into your daily life and next photography venture.

1. Bird’s Eye View – The bird’s eye view angle can be used to play with perspective and provide your photo with a new dimension. As the name suggests, the angle offers an elevated view as if a bird was watching the object on the ground. Usually, the images are taken from either a 40-degree angle or a 90-degree angle. This angle is often used to add power to your photos or display vast patterns like shapes, symmetry, or full-scale landscapes on the ground. This angle not only adds a perspective to your photo but can also change dull space into an art piece. Another name for Bird’s eye view is aerial shot.

2. Face-to-face – A faceto-face or a front angle is an honest, non-deceptive angle. With this angle, one can study animal and human behaviour. This photo angle can be shot from various angles and can make the viewer feel a plethora of emotions. The subject is often aware of your presence.

3. Low Angle – The low angle makes the subject (be it a human or simply the sky) look powerful, vast, and dominant. The shot is taken such that it makes the viewers feel the authoritativeness of the subject. If you are a portrait photographer, you may be aware that shooting your subject from a low angle makes them look taller. Meanwhile, low-angle shots can also be used to convey the negative energy of a subject.

4. Bug’s Eye View – As the name suggests, a bug’s eye view is used to explore the world from a bug’s perspective. This shot is taken from an extremely low point and the camera is positioned at an angle such that it seems like you are looking at the subject, providing the audience a new perspective and dimension. This angle offers a wide field of view but from a low angle.

5. High Angle – A high angle is different from a Bird’s Eye View. In this angle, the point of view is dominant to the subject. They make the subject look comparatively inferior, less significant, and diminished while you are dominant and look down on them.

These are just some angles in which you can make your picture impactful and connect with the audience uniquely. However, the key aspect to remember while practicing these angles is to use your creativity to innovate and add value to the viewers’ perception/imagination.