Figure 3-13.
Horizon line
c. Camera angle.
Careful choice of camera angle is a very powerful
method of emphasizing a feeling in a picture.
Choosing a low angle and
shooting upward often implies power by suggesting that the subject is taller
than it really is.
Conversely, choosing a high angle and shooting down
tends to make objects seem smaller and less threatening than they really
are. Shooting at unusual angles also often helps give a picture impact or
"stopping power" (it compels the viewer to look at it) because it is an
angle and viewpoint which he doesn't usually experience and the novelty
interests him.
It makes him think, "Hey, I never thought about this in
quite that way before." On the other hand, a head-on, eye level view of a
subject emphasizes objectivity and ordinariness.
It seems to present a
subject as "Here it is.
I, the photographer, have no comment.
You must
draw your own conclusions." Of course, if the subject is extremely powerful
of itself, the "objectivity" implied by the direct angle may not be true.
In fact, just by choosing to take a picture, a photographer injects his
opinion because the implication is "this is something worth having its
picture taken," and that in itself is an opinion.
Figure 3-14.
The right angle can have a powerful effect
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