The Amazing Angle Trick

The other day... yesterday I think... I had mentioned something about how shooting from a different angle can make a huge difference in how your subject will appear in a photo. I am not talking a huge difference in angles, just something as simple as getting up slightly and shooting down instead of shooting straight on. I had my boy Jeff pose for me and I took a shot standing up one step on a step stool and one from straight on... the difference is jaw dropping...

Okay, he may have over done it bit on the straight on shot, but you can still see a difference. In the picture on the left, which was shot from the higher angle, he looks like a normal human being. The shot on the right is straight on and makes him look like that dwarf from Lord of the Rings... as a matter of fact...

Well, what do you know, he is a dwarf...

Anyway, shoot from a higher angle if you are shooting anyone but Brad Pitt or George Clooney...

What I Have Learned So Far

In the very short time I have done this project I feel like I have actually learned a lot. The most important being that backlighting is the absolute key to making a portrait pop. I guess I probably knew this, but knowing it and actually taking the time to stop and make sure my lighting is set up properly are two different things. The first few shots I took for the project were done in the shade and I do like those, but once I started using the sun for a backlight I really noticed a significant difference in the overall impact of the shot. The depth added by the additional light can make the difference between a snapshot and a portrait, so make sure you take the time to set up if you have the ability to do so.

 

I don’t have two separate shots to compare, but if you look at this shot you will see how her hair is highlighted from the sun giving it separation from the background. Imagine if that light wasn’t there… her hair would blend right in with the background which would significantly change the depth and overall quality of the picture.

So... if you are out shooting portraits and you are have a flash I would suggest having your subject turn their back to the sun and using the flash to light the face. Aside from giving depth to the shot it will also reduce the squinting that is usually caused by staring directly into a giant ball of fire.

Before and After

One of my peeps wanted to see the before and after shot of his image, so I thought I would post it here and give an explanation of what I did to get it from start to finish. First, the original...

 Now the final product...
The most obvious change is the crop. I normally don't crop in this tight, but I generally test it out just to see what it looks like and when I cropped this shot I knew instantly that it was the way to go. His face tells a story to me and getting up close and personal really draws you in.

I use Adobe Lightroom for my initial processing, so after the crop I did some adjustments to brightness, contrast, clarity, and saturation. After that I did a little bit of dodge and burn in his eyes and around his chin to make his face pop. I then did vignetting to draw the viewer into the face. After that I popped it over to Photoshop and did some spot editing and a high pass filter to accentuate the detail.

Pretty simple...