Tilting of the camera is something we see a lot of today. It can work
particularly well for portraits, especially when the subject is
expressing emotion, like a couple of laughing teens. But this technique
can also work for street scenes to convey a sense of movement and
energy. Recently, on a trip to London, I took hundreds of photos of Big
Ben. Wanting to capture the feeling of really being there, I stood in
the middle of Westminster Bridge looking towards Big Ben and Parliament
and waited for the iconic red bus to come into the scene. By slightly
tilting the camera, I feel the shot does not feel static, but instead energetic, bringing me back to the moment of standing almost in the road
and the traffic rushing by. Tilting the camera is not right for every
shot, and sometimes you just have to experiment with a straight on shot (see last shot in the post to compare)
and one that has a tilt to it, to discover which shot you like best. Try tilting the camera both left and right to see which is the better angle for the shot. I used this technique quite a bit on the trip, and when looking at them scattered throughout my digital photo book I am creating on Blurb.com, I feel it helped to capture the whirlwind that was my three-day London vacation.
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| A straight on view. Compare to the main photo at the top of the post. |
Tilting of the camera is something we see a lot of today. It can work
particularly well for portraits, especially when the subject is
expressing emotion, like a couple of laughing teens. But this technique
can also work for street scenes to convey a sense of movement and
energy. Recently, on a trip to London, I took hundreds of photos of Big
Ben. Wanting to capture the feeling of really being there, I stood in
the middle of Westminster Bridge looking towards Big Ben and Parliament
and waited for the iconic red bus to come into the scene. By slightly
tilting the camera, I feel the shot does not feel static, but instead energetic, bringing me back to the moment of standing almost in the road
and the traffic rushing by. Tilting the camera is not right for every
shot, and sometimes you just have to experiment with a straight on shot (see last shot in the post to compare)
and one that has a tilt to it, to discover which shot you like best. Try tilting the camera both left and right to see which is the better angle for the shot. I used this technique quite a bit on the trip, and when looking at them scattered throughout my digital photo book I am creating on Blurb.com, I feel it helped to capture the whirlwind that was my three-day London vacation.
Thanks for this tip. This is something I've never thought about but will now. Of the two (top & bottom) I definitely prefer the top photo...cool!
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