Dynamic Posing Guide: Modern Techniques for Digital Photographers

CHAPTER 5: Camera Angles

 

When it comes to angles it’s really quite simple: Your pose will dictate your camera angle or your camera angle will dictate your pose. Working with camera angles and posing in conjunction with one another can turn an average photograph into a powerful photograph. Utilizing different lenses and their proper focal lengths is critical. Using the focal lengths with the lens and angle at which you choose to photograph the model will render an image as you have previsualized it.

Perspective angles and distortion angles are two key camera angles that you will use most often in fashion photography, and knowing the difference between them and when to use each to your advantage will make all the difference in your photograph. In this chapter, I will explain the difference between these two angles and offer tips on how best to utilize them in your work.

Perspective Angles

Your subject’s pose and the composition of your photographs are greatly influenced by the perspective at which they are shot. As you can see from the images throughout this book and in the image shown in Figure 5.1, I usually shoot from a very low perspective angle. Even if I’m not lying directly on the ground, I am sitting or holding the camera low so that there’s at least a slight upward angle on my subject. By getting low, I drop the horizon line in the back of the subject.

Figure 5.1