Impersonal Angles

Bee in the Weeds
Originally uploaded by Dalantech.

I dialed up the way back machine to 2007 so I could show you an example, from my own gallery, of what you shouldn't do when composing your subjects. The image that I've included isn't necessarily bad -it has a lot going for it from a compositional perspective. But one thing that it's lacking is the connection between the subject and the viewer because you're forced to stare at the top of the critter's head, instead of seeing it at "eye level", and it's almost impossible to connect to it.

You wouldn't photograph the top of a persons head, so why shoot an insect from the top down?...

When composing your subjects try to do it from an angle that's at their level. It's much easier to convey a sense of personality when the viewer can make eye contact with the subject, like this shot:



I recently showed that image to one of my daughter's friends and she laughed because to her it looked like the bee was smiling. Changing people's perceptions of insects is one of the things that I'm trying to do with my photography, to get them to see the critters as more than just "bugs".

Truth be told I think that they do have distinct personalities, but their personality won't show in your work if you're shooting from impersonal angles...