Photo Challenge – Unique Perspectives

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”  I’m sure it was true when it was written and it’s true now.  In fact, it’s probably more evident now than ever.  With everyone and their brother owning camera-equipped smartphones and uploading images faster than a teenager gets pimples it’s easy to discourage yourself from taking photos of things that have been photographed literally a million or more times.  Chin up!  This challenge is for you.

I’ve written and read all about changing perspectives.  Getting beneath things, walking around things, climbing above things, using Scientology to float over subjects, etc., etc..  For this challenge I want you to forget about the different angles and look for something interesting to actually shoot through.  A key hole, bike spokes, a hole scraped in the paint of a window like in the image above, or some other way to frame your subject.

* Framing is the key, but don’t stop there.  Once you’ve got your subject framed try to angle your camera in a way that captures leading lines, the rule of thirds, and colors that compliment each other. 

The easiest way to do this is to explore the area surrounding what you want to photograph.  Taking this challenge is an awesome way to improve your observation and composition skills.  Once you find the unique perspective make sure you give some thought to the lens you use depending on the result you want.  Wide angle lenses will put more emphasis on objects near you while a telephoto lens will pull distant objects closer together to create a more compressed image.

Good luck!

Once you capture your masterpiece you can upload it to the PhotolisticLife Flickr page, tag it #PhotolisticLife on Instagram, or upload it to the PhotolisticLife Facebook page.  The best shots have a chance of getting you featured right here on PhotolisticLife.com.

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