Image: Barbara Ryther
Point of View
To a photographer ‘point of view’ can be a simple concept – it literally means the point from which you are viewing whatever you’re photographing.
It’s frequently tempting to go with the first point of view you stumble upon. After all, something about the view made you stop and consider taking a picture. But experience eventually teaches you that by looking at the view from other points you may in fact get a better picture.
A lot can be seen about even the simplest photographic subject simply by walking all the way around it. Maybe the sun hits it at a different angle, or the background changes, or more details are revealed. The delicate veins of dogwood blossoms may come into view, for example, or the architecture of the tree branch.
Not all points of view will be equally photographic, or will resonate with you, or will serve the subject well, but you’ll never know unless you try.
Here endeth the photography lesson.
Try it the next time you take a picture. Or in any other activity of your life.
Barbara Ryther