TnT Unleashed 1pic4twenty Blog

 

If you’re careful not to let that long blade of grass tickle your nose, and don’t choose windy days to lie on the beach propped on your elbows with your camera at the ready, lying down to take photos presents a whole new world of creative photo opportunities.

Getting down really low, by lying down close to what you want to take a picture of, has many advantages:

Many people can’t afford an expensive camera or a tripod, but are still interested in being creative with a camera – but, of course, even those photographers with expensive cameras can always try and be more creative by trying the same tips here, if they haven’t already!

 

Lying down, flat on your stomach, propped up on your elbows, eliminates using a tripod to keep your camera steady. If wanting to get down even lower, one can always use a beanbag or a folded item of clothing placed directly on the ground, grass, concrete, or sand, if outdoors. Wriggle the beanbag or item of clothing around a bit to ensure the camera is firmly on it, as well as level. Of course, if wanting to be really creative with angles, and not just make the mistake of producing a crooked photo, you don’t have to worry so much about the level of whatever it is you rest your camera on, but must still ensure the camera sits on it firmly to help prevent a blurry photograph. If purposely wanting a crooked, or angled photo, make sure the angle is quite pronounced, otherwise people who view the photo afterwards won’t believe you took a crooked photo on purpose!

 

Taking silhouettes, or other photos into the sun, is considered not correct by many. Just about everyone knows the sun should be behind you, but if wanting to be creative, rules don’t apply! When the sun is shining in your eyes, causing you to squint and worry about eye damage, getting down low by lying on your stomach in long grass to take a picture of something off in the distance – or even nearby – removes a lot of sun from your eyes, and introduces more interest into the bottom of the frame of your photograph.

When standing up to take a photo of something small but interesting in an open area – whether it be the sunset in the distance, or a child’s toy car lying on the grass, the image can have much more interest added to it by rather getting down and including an interesting, often out-of-focus foreground in the bottom third, or even two thirds of the image. Try not to cut your photos in half, but rather place the main point of interest as close as possible to either one horizontal or one vertical third of your frame.

When taking pictures of something that is usually smaller than you, for example of a small child sitting on the floor, taking the picture from above does not often result in a great image. If you are talking to a child, you get their attention more by kneeling down at their level, so remember this when taking photos of them too. Get down to make the photo more real.

Taking photos while lying on your stomach produces photos that puts viewers of the photos right in the picture, as if they’re an ant in the grass. Of course, you could also make people who look at your photos feel like a carefree child, or a tortoise on it’s back, by rolling over on the ground and taking pictures of the sky and clouds, with sunlight filtering down at you between thin and leafy branches.

© Teresa Schultz 2009