it’s all a matter of perspective

**The following article was written by guest contributor, Emily Powers.**

Photography mirrors life. When I take a photo, I freeze a moment, creating a mini time capsule. When someone looks at one of my pictures 50 or 100 years from now, what will they see?

Perspective helps me capture much more than a person, place or thing; it helps me vocalize the nuances. Sure, it will be nice to remember the exact steel blue color of my daughter’s eyes, but can I bottle up a bit of her four-year-old spirit? Can a photograph tickle the senses and bring a moment back to life? I think so, but it means training our eyes and our heart to see the world differently.

Don’t forget the details. The soft wrinkles that line Grandma’s hands, the knowing glance exchanged between a couple madly in love, the teeny tiny toes that peek out beneath a baby’s plush blanket, the vibrant blooms a repentant husband offers in apology, a teenager’s hand as he shovels dinner into his mouth without breathing, the piles on a working mom’s desk that represent all she has done and all she has left to do.

The stuff of life is in the details. When I begin to zoom in and look for them, I find that my photos begin to breathe. All of a sudden a mug shot morphs into a work of everyday life art. When I look at the world through a magnifying glass, I’m pleasantly surprised. It doesn’t shrink; it grows bigger.

Experiment with depth of field. Depth of field is the area of sharpness within a photograph. In most storytelling photos, there is a foreground, a middle ground and a background. Depending on the focal length of the lens, the distance between the photographer and the subject, and the aperture, I can choose which part of the scene is crisp and which part is out-of-focus.  When speaking of aperture, large f-stop numbers (16, 22 or 32) have a greater area of sharpness or detail in a photo. In contrast, pictures taken with small f-stop numbers (1.8, 2.8, 4 or 5.6) will have a much tighter area of sharpness and detail and a large blurred area. Our lives and relationships have so many convoluted layers; I like to shoot with a small aperture number because I feel it most resembles reality—there are parts that are sharp and crisp and other areas that are delightfully out-of-focus.

Get the whole picture with 360-degree photography. Capturing stories forces me to move. 360-degree photography is like yoga hopped up on two Starbucks Caramel Macchiatos. I’m often squirming along the ground on my belly like a deranged snake or teetering above my subject, holding some ridiculous balance posture.  Up, down, ducking to the left and then the right, sprinting forward and then backpedaling—I try to shoot the same frame from every possible perspective. When it comes time to process my photos, I have choices and, most likely, I got one great photo that makes all my gut-sucking, winded theatrics totally worth the effort.

Creative cropping and post- processing come in handy. In my opinion, photography is a rich blend of a strongly brewed capture with a heaping spoonful of post-processing. So maybe it isn’t perfect straight out of the camera; that’s okay. With clever cropping and the magic of Photoshop, Lightroom or other photo-editing software, you can create perspective.

This is a self-discovery process. Sure, it makes great sense to read books and study the work of photographers you admire. But at some point, you’ve got to get out there and do it. Don’t just take pictures; tell stories. Your photos can speak; it’s all a matter of perspective.

IT’S ALL A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE TIPS:

1. Participate in Project 365. Take a photo a day for an entire year and you will evolve as a photographer; it’s that simple. Practice may not lead to perfection, but it will certainly lead to improvement. You will train your eye to catch the moments and stories that crisscross your life and you’ll learn a whole lot about perspective in the process.

2. If you have a digital SLR camera, try on a new perspective by renting a new-to-you lens from www.borrowlenses.com.  It’s a great way to try-before-you-buy too!

3. Subscribe to the Photojojo newsletter at www.photojojo.com and discover tips, do-it-yourself projects and perspective-altering articles.

IT’S ALL A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE ASSIGNMENT:

Pick a subject and photograph it from EVERY perspective. 360 degree photography—above, below, left, right, in front, behind, angled, straight. Process all of the captured photos in the exact same way. Slowly scroll through the frames and choose your five favorite photos. Are you surprised with the results? Are you drawn to certain perspectives? Experiment with 360-degree photography often and you will find that the world will take on fresh and exciting shapes - inside and outside - your lens.

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