(click on the image to see larger version)

Previously we discussed the idea of getting down on the subject’s level when taking photographs.  We spend our lives watching the world from the same perspective.  We look up at trees, down at flowers, and straight across at people.  Studies have shown that one of the reasons few people like seeing themselves in pictures is because the only time we see ourselves is in the mirror and the image is backwards.  Breaking preconceived ideas about how things should appear tends to make us uncomfortable and can add psychological impact to our images.  One way to do this is to photograph a subject at a unique angle.  Rather then capturing the traditional flower closeup or field in bloom, use a wide angle and shoot the flowers from above.  Climb into the tree and photograph it looking down.  The perspective will be fresh and help your images to stand out from the crowd.

The above image was created during the annual wildflower bloom in the Texas Hill Country.    The Texas bluebonnet is our state flower and I wanted to capture an image that showed its beauty in a different way.  I set my wide angle zoom to its widest setting, held the camera over the flowers at arms length, and pressed the shutter.  The image was captured using a Canon 1Ds mark 3, 17-35mm lens (set to 17mm), at 400 ISO.  The camera was hand held.