What's Your Angle?
Monday, January 25th 2010 @ 11:47 AM (not yet rated)
How do we get out-of-the-ordinary images? Even as a professional photographer, it’s easy to fall into ruts. The trick is to continue to look for the fresh angle. As Bing Crosby told Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas, “Everybody’s got an angle, kid.”
For example, I recently stayed at the beach by the Pacific Ocean. Now, I live an hours’ drive from the sea, so the shoreline isn’t a new subject for me. And no offense to the delightful town of Seaside, Oregon, but the vistas here are among the least interesting I’ve seen. The beach is flat, the town is touristy – let’s just say it isn’t inherently a photographer’s delight. Just a few miles down the road is Cannon Beach, whose towering rocks and dramatic landscape have delighted photographers for years. But I wasn’t staying in Cannon Beach; I was attending a writer’s conference in Seaside.
An idea occurred to me. Touristy towns, which can sometimes look a little cheap and tacky by day, often take on a different feel at night. (Think Las Vegas, for example.) What would this little town look like when all was dark and quiet?
So I got up very early with my camera and tripod, and headed for the beach. I looked back at the slumbering city, whose muted lights looked quite charming against the hills. The moon was even cooperating, shining its crescent smile down, evoking impressions of a nativity scene. With the camera firmly secured upon a tripod, I set my aperture at f3.5 and my shutter speed at 1.3 seconds. Even in the predawn blackness, I was able to get a very nice image that captured the mood of the sleeping city.
Then I turned my attention to the distance, where one lonely hill jutted into the sea. Just a few lights shone, and clouds capped the solitary mound. With a 4.8 aperture at 5 seconds, I was able to capture even the phospheresence of the sea.
Note how cool this image is, compared to the one of the sleeping town. For this early morning session, I set my camera to an auto-white balance, because there really wasn’t enough light to set one manually. That means the camera took its cues from the available light. The light of the city is much warmer, with an incandescent influence that is reflected as a golden glow. The seascape, on the other hand, has very little artificial amperage, and the natural light is almost colorless.
Finally, look at this image taken of an approaching jogger on the boardwalk. This image is lit almost entirely by incandescent light. Wow – it’s quite yellow! But I liked the effect, which mirrored what my human eye saw. Note the leading line, which carries the eye to the jogger, who is framed by the lightpoles. The stark contrast with the blackness of the night outside of this cozy scene adds to its effectiveness.
Three very different images, all captured in the blackness of predawn, show that we can always find a creative angle that will take our photography from blasé to beautiful. Grab your camera and get out there. Don’t forget to post the images here, so we can comment and enjoy!
