Perspectives are weird things. Depending on your perspective, things can look very different, be it in unimportant things like religion or politics, or in the really important stuff, like photography. Being in the right place at the right time, being willing to engage your model, and not feeling bound to conventional poses can help you capture truly compelling images of your subject, and in some cases, can even help you to capture the essence of their personality.
Case in point is a photo by my friend Anna of my friend Grace:
Grace is a delightfully quirky young woman with a playful side, and this photo captured that perfectly. My own attempt (below) caught some of that playfulness, though not nearly as dramatically as the image above
By snapping the photo of Grace lurching at the camera, Anna used her perspective to really capture Grace’s playfulness, and made a better image.
Meanwhile, feeling inspired by the interesting perspectives one sees when multiple photographers are hanging out with each other, I tried a couple of experiments myself:
Here Anna takes her leisure on the grass. 
And here’s Brandon, taking his leisure on a lawn chair.
Portraiture has a lot of good guidelines, but occasionally, stepping out of the lines and trying something new will yield a surprising and fun result. So shake things up occasionally; you never know what you’ll discover.
Posts
