Change Your Camera Angle For Better Nature Photos

One of the simplest changes that a nature photographer can make to increase a viewer's interest in the images they produce is to change the camera angle. What this means is that most people who use a camera instinctively look at a subject and bring the camera up to their eye level to take the photo. In other words, the angle of view that they choose for the bird or animal on the ground or in the bush is the same as they have while standing.

This is ok in some cases, but it doesn't present the photo's subject in an interesting way, especially if it is a bird or animal that is rather commonly seen. It usually results in a photo that is fairly hum-drum and boring.

Instead, lower the camera angle down to at least eye level with the subject, or maybe even flatten yourself out on the ground entirely. This does two things - first it makes for a fresh way to view the subject, and second it totally changes the background. If your camera angle no longer includes the grass or ground in the near vicinity of the subject, it doesn't compete for our attention when we view the photo.

It's amazing how this one simple tip can take a mundane and uninteresting image and transform it into something that our eye finds attractive. Here is a few shots taken this last weekend at Fort Desoto's North Beach area that helps emphasize the need to get eye level with your subject to spice up the photo:

A marbled godwit relaxing in the water

An american oystercatcher in the sand

Notice how both shots above are fromn low camera angles and as a result the background is moved far away from the bird making it go pleasingly out of focus. This draws our attention to the place where we as photographers want it to be - on the bird.

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