Let's talk about the angle
you take photos from.
It turns out that the vast majority of iPhone photos
are taken from the height of a standing adult,
just like this.
And it's not a surprise
because that's the most convenient way to take photos
and it's also how you see the world.
But it turns out that
that is almost never the best angle to shoot from.
And if you're working with bigger subjects,
for example, a famous landmark or a building,
the vast majority of photos there
will also usually be taken from the exact same spot.
That's where everyone else is standing.
They all get the same photo,
but is that the best photo you can possibly take?
And if you're capturing the same photo
that everyone else is shooting,
then what value are you adding as a photographer?
So in order to capture more interesting,
more unique photos,
you should never stop at the most obvious angle.
Instead, you should always work the scene,
work the angle,
until you get a unique perspective,
a unique vantage point
where the photo that you've captured is uniquely yours.
And that way,
your iPhone photos are really going to stand out.
Let me show you what I mean with an example.
I've opened the camera app of my iPhone,
and you'll see that in the foreground,
I have this stump,
which is going to be the subject of this demonstration.
Now, I've picked something as simple
as this stump for a reason.
The average person would walk right past this,
they would never even suspect
that a stump like this
could potentially hide some photo opportunities.
But once you start shooting from more unique,
more unusual angles,
then there will be so many more
photo opportunities all around you
and even simple subjects such as this stump
could potentially hide these opportunities.
So let's explore this scene
and let's see what kind of photos we can capture.
So the view you're looking at now
is perhaps the most obvious way to frame this stump
if I'm just walking past it,
so I'm shooting from the height of a standing person,
but a photo like this is just too messy.
There's too much going on,
nothing really stands out,
it's just not a good composition.
Well, what happens if I switch to my 2x,
my telephoto lens,
you'll see that now,
I'm actually much closer to the stump
and it kinda fills the entire bottom part of the frame
and also I have a much cleaner shot
and I have those interesting waves
and reflection patterns behind it.
So I think this is a first shot
that I'm interested in taking,
so I'll go ahead and press the shutter.
But I'm not done yet.
I think there are many more photo opportunities
hidden inside this stump.
My job as a photographer is to try to find them.
So I'm gonna try to walk closer to the stump
and also I'm gonna get lower
and a good tip I have for you is that
if you're working with a smaller subject,
such as this stump,
it is generally a good idea to get down
to the height of your subject.
You don't wanna be shooting
a small subject from the top
because then it's going to disappear
in the background most of the time,
so you wanna get lower to the level of your subject.
Now here, I can't work with my 2x 'cause I'm too close,
so I'm gonna switch back to 1x,
and you'll see that now
I have a different perspective on the stump.
But this isn't really working from this point of view
because the most interesting parts of this stump
or the legs of the stump so to speak
are on the right and on the left.
So that's where I need to go.
I'm gonna reposition myself to the left
and now you can immediately see
how that stump is starting to take shape.
Now, I have these legs of the stump on the left
and also the bottom right,
which is interesting.
And if I play around with the framing just a little bit,
just a few inches is all I need
to dramatically change the image.
So if I move a tiny bit to the right,
you'll see that I can frame this shot
in such a way where I also have this green island
at the top right-hand corner.
So it can create an interesting composition
where the stump nicely frames up that green element
at the top right-hand corner.
But I'm not done yet,
look what happens as I start moving more to the left
and also closer to the water.
You'll see that this green island is now completely gone
and I have a more extreme,
more unique perspective at the stump.
So that leg at the top right
is starting to look really interesting
and I have a unique perspective
from which no one has probably ever seen this stump.
And as a photographer,
that's what you can do
if you shoot from a unique angle.
You can show the world,
to people, like they've never seen it before.
And that will automatically result
in really interesting photos.
Now, let's see what happens if I switch to my 0.5x,
my ultra wide lens.
So you'll see that now I'm kinda further away,
but that's not the only thing that changed.
Another thing that changed is the relationship
between the foreground and the background.
Now, if I'm using the 0.5x,
they're getting further apart,
so really what I'm doing is
I'm further emphasizing the strange shapes of the stump.
So if I now frame up the same stump,
you'll see that this right leg
is so much closer to me.
And it looks like the stump has pretty much changed shape,
but it didn't change shape,
I just changed my lens.
So now from this point of view,
I can take yet another shot.
And finally, let's see what happens
if I move to the other side of the stump.
I think there should be some more photo opportunities there.
Okay, from this point of view,
the stump, once again,
looks completely different
and I'm gonna keep playing around with the angle.
And I think I can get a really interesting shot
if I extend my arms
just a little bit over the water like this.
From here, I really like the composition I'm getting.
And I'm also really happy about that sky
at the top of the image.
So I'll go ahead and press the shutter.
Now, within just a couple of minutes
by getting down lower,
and by walking around this stump,
I was able to capture several unique photos
from a completely unique,
completely different vantage point.
And that's what you should try to do as a photographer.
You should never settle at the most obvious angle.
And if you find something interesting,
if something catches your eye,
take the obvious photo,
but go one step further,
go beyond that.
See what happens if you get down below,
if you walk around your subject,
if you switch to a different lens
and see how that changes your photos.
If you learn to do that,
your photos will become so much better.
But now, let me show you how you can apply the same idea,
the same principle to a much bigger subject.
Now, I just showed you how to work the scene
and take a photo from every possible angle
when you're working with a smaller subject.
But how can you do it
if you're working with something bigger?
For example, if you're taking a photo of an old church,
how do you then go about finding the best angle?
Well, actually it's exactly the same.
You still have to walk around your subject
and try to find the best possible angle
except the scale of that walking around
it's going to be different.
So let me show you what I mean.
If I open up the camera app of my iPhone,
you'll see that I'm looking at this beautiful church,
but that's not really what I'm seeing.
What I'm really seeing here
is a construction site in front of the church.
I have some wires going across right in front of the tower
and I also have some cars.
So that's not the ideal composition.
Now, I could switch to my 2x,
my telephoto lens.
And that way,
I can actually eliminate
some of the distracting elements in the foreground,
but this still doesn't look quite right.
You see that I still have those wires
cutting across the frame.
And also just everything looks kind of washed out
and that's because the scene is backlit.
In other words,
the sun is behind the church tower,
even though now it's also behind the cloud,
that still doesn't change the fact that
if I'm shooting from this side,
where the scene is backlit,
I'm gonna get a worse photo
where the colors don't look as good.
So let me show you what happens
if I walk around the church
and try to capture it from a better vantage point.
Okay, I just walked across the street
and from this point of view,
I can already get a much cleaner view.
So now, you'll see that I don't have
any distracting wires or anything like that.
I can get a really clean composition of the church tower,
so I'll go ahead and take a photo.
And while this angle is much better than where we started,
it's still not quite perfect.
You'll notice that we're still backlit.
Meaning that the sun,
even though it's hiding behind that cloud,
it is behind the church tower
and that means that from this vantage point,
all the colors are going to be kind of washed out.
So while this is much better
than the shots we started with,
I know we can do better.
So let's keep looking.
Okay, so now,
I walked to the other side of the church.
So this is the opposite side from where we started
and from here I'm finally no longer backlit.
However, if I open up my camera app,
you'll see that the sun hasn't come out yet,
so I don't see any sun on the church tower.
However, from this angle,
I already get better colors simply
because I'm no longer backlit.
So that's another benefit of changing the angle.
You can find a kind of angle
from which the colors of your subject
will look most pleasing.
Now, notice how I framed this shot.
I'm standing exactly opposite
to those windows of the church tower.
So, I'm right at the center of the tower
and from this specific point,
and only from here,
I can get an extremely symmetrical,
really beautiful composition.
So I'm gonna go ahead and take this shot.
And I'm quite happy with what we've captured.
But I still hope that the sun might come out
and I'm definitely not done.
There are more angles to capture,
so let's keep exploring.
Okay, so now I walked further down the street.
Now, we're still on the opposite side
from the point where we started
and now the sun has finally come out.
So if I now frame up another shot,
you'll see how big of a difference
the light makes in this photo.
Now the scene is no longer backlit.
Instead, the sun is behind me
and you can see how it shines the evening light
onto this building in the foreground,
as well as the church tower in the background.
It's a great shot,
so before anything else changes,
I'm gonna take a picture.
Now, look at that.
This looks so much better
than the photos we started with.
I have a more interesting angle.
I have a really beautiful foreground
that nicely frames the tower at the top
and I have light that actually illuminates my scene
so this worked out perfectly.
But let's see if we can find something else
that's interesting.
Okay, I've found yet another spot
from which to take a photo of the church.
And when you're taking photos of landmarks,
what tends to happen is that
hundreds of people can sometimes
take a photo of the same building per day.
So how do you make your shots unique?
Well, you can do it,
if you find a unique angle,
a unique vantage point,
and that's exactly what I'm doing here.
So I'm literally sitting down
in this one little corner
and from this spot,
and from this spot only,
I can create another pleasing composition.
So if I open up the camera of my iPhone,
you'll see that the church
is once again brightly illuminated
and you'll also notice
that I can still see the clock of the church,
so most of the tower is hidden,
but to me,
that clock is actually
the most interesting part of the church tower.
So I'm really glad
that I was able to include it in the composition
from this point of view.
Now on the left,
I have a corner of a different church
and I don't really want that in the frame.
So I need to reposition it slightly to the right,
to eliminate that red church on the left.
Also, you'll notice that there's a painting
on that yellow building in the background
and while it's a nice painting,
to me, this photo is all about the white church tower.
So the more I can remove unnecessary details
and distractions from the frame,
the stronger the image is gonna get.
If I frame it up just like this,
and it's a matter of millimeters,
I don't want to cut out that window.
So the margin for error is kind of small here.
You'll also notice that the church tower
now happens to be exactly in the center of the frame
and I'm happy with the way this looks.
So I'll go ahead and take a photo.
Now, this specific image was only possible
from this one exact point.
If I was standing just a little bit to the right,
let me show you what would happen.
So if I move a tiny bit to the right,
you'll see that the clock of the church is now covered.
And this photo doesn't work
because that clock as I said,
to me, is the most important part of the church.
So if I move just one foot to the left,
one foot, that's all it takes.
You'll see that now,
the clock of the church
is perfectly centered in that little opening,
which looks really, really good
and that is the composition I'm after.
So before anything else changes,
I'll go ahead and take another shot.
And finally, I've almost completed the circle,
so I'm almost back to where I started.
And while I was walking around the church,
the sun was also making its way around the church.
And now, even though I'm very close
to the vantage point from which I started,
If I now frame up the church tower,
you'll see that one side of the tower
is actually illuminated.
That's because the sun is now hitting
that tower from the right side.
Now you'll also see,
that I framed up the tower between two roofs,
so I have this really, really strong triangle.
So the church tower is kind of tucked
between those two really strong diagonal lines
and to me that's a really strong,
really unusual composition.
Now, I'm really happy with how this is turning out.
I'll go ahead and take a photo.
And that's gonna be the last shot of the day.
Now as you can see from the examples I showed you,
the angle you shoot from
makes such a huge difference
in your iPhone photography.
Most people, when they're taking photos,
they'll just get out their iPhone,
they'll take a quick snapshot and that's it,
they'll move on.
If that's how you shoot,
you're never gonna get truly unique images.
Instead, take some time to work the scene,
if you're working with a smaller subject,
walk around it,
shoot it from different angles,
shoot it from up high,
shoot it from down below,
shoot it from every possible angle
until you find the one that works best.
Or if you're working with something bigger,
such as this church,
make sure you walk around it.
Try to look for unique foregrounds,
try to frame it in a unique way.
Look for the direction of light
and see how that affects the photos.
And if you pay attention to these things,
you're gonna get truly extraordinary images.
The angle you shoot from makes such a huge difference,
I cannot stress this enough.
So make sure you work the scene,
don't settle for the most obvious angle
and that way,
you'll get the best iPhone photos possible.