Angle & Composition

Historic Jackson Tower, Portland OR

Determine the shot and choose the direction.  Consider where the most light is coming from, whether from a window, skylight, or overhead.  You want your light to be at an angle to the camera lens or subject matter, and not from the back of your subject, or from behind the camera.  You basically do not want the light to be pointing in the same direction as the camera. The best light will show itself when coming into the subject matter from the side or at roughly 45 to 90 degrees.

Most people make the mistake of shooting at eye level.  Usually for medium to small spaces, get as low as you can without losing your subject matter to give a feeling of being in the room.  Many times for a typical living room shot we may be shooting from 2 feet off the floor.  This will also give you more access to strong foregrounds, like the arm of a chair, a couch, coffee table, or a counter top.  For large commercial spaces we will might get up on a ladder and shoot from a higher angle, say 10 or 12 feet, an angle that people don’t normally see.  This makes for a more interesting photograph.

Don’t forget to actually look through the view finder and look at what you’re shooting.  Most people literally just point and shoot.  You basically have a box or frame that you’re filling with converging lines.  If you’re having problems getting something nice, simply move in closer to your subject matter.  This has a tendency to simplify things in the viewfinder thus, a better photo.  Try and set prominent objects in your frame on an imaginary tic-tac-toe grid.  Thirds work well when composing photos just like in other forms of art.

Many designers want everything in the room to be in one photo and many times this doesn’t work, although it depends on the architecture of the space.  In the end, I believe the photo needs to stand on its own as a well composed and well lit piece of work.

Extreme angles can be more interesting.  Remember Alfred Hitchcock?  For the next post we will cover some lighting concepts for interior photography.

Till then, shoot away ~FS, StickleyPhoto