I have been out photographing a lot this season. I mean, I have been hard at it for the past few seasons but this season I have been working on my craft a lot. I am super happy with where I am at, when it comes to my wildlife photography, I still have a ton to learn and I am loving every second of it. There are so many great wildlife photographers to learn from.  From basic’s like, learning how to use my camera’s features, to composition, to studying behavior for better images. I have been working hard trying to learn it all. It is all uphill, but I am enjoying the climb.

Of course the most important part of learning anything is trying to pass on what you have learned. Just an FYI, nothing I have learned is new. This is info I have learned from better shooters, but my goal is to one day, stand among those giants - and the one thing I know about the greats, is that they love passing on what they have learned. So as I climb my mountain, I will do my best to share tips and tricks along the way.  

So here is my first post on sharing what I have learned about wildlife photography; Perspective; capturing the different angles. When you are photographing wildlife, it is all about where and how you stand, or more to the point, how NOT to stand. By that I mean, getting low, whenever you can.  

When you are photographing a subject, both above and below the water, you can change the look and feel of a photo just by squatting, or kneeling or lying down. Here is an example of what I mean… 

In this first example, I was standing up high on the boat, looking down on the shark when I snapped this image of a breaching white shark. The back ground is just water. It is still a nice shot, but it lacks depth.

Here is an example of what I mean by getting low. I was at sea level and squatting low on the back diving platform, waiting for this shark to breach on the hang bait. Squatting low meant I could also capture the island in the back ground, giving this breaching image a much different look. 

Here is another couple of examples of images from different perspectives.

The first is a photo of a great hammerhead from up high and shows the sand around the animal. It is a nice shot, well I like it. But doesn’t show what is around the area, just looks like an empty ocean with a shark cruising along the bottom, which is great, it shows the shark in it’s element. Getting up high sometimes helps to tell a different kind of story.

However, in this next image, I captured it from a low position, trying to show it from the sharks perspective, sharing what the shark sees. I also played with black and white in this image to try and set a mood. It kind of works.

So anyway, today’s lesson is about getting low, to change the look and feel of your photos, because when it comes to capturing a nice image… angles are everything.

Hoping this post will help some of you on your photographic journey. I know it helped me learning this little photography tip.