Composition Technique - Viewpoint - Birds Eye view
Blog entry
2nd March
Have you used viewpoint, when taking a picture?
This blog relates to using viewpoint & is the first of two blogs on this composition technique
What is the viewpoint?
The composition called viewpoint is where you consider your position to the view or objects that you are taking a photograph of. Here are a few options to consider when relating to the viewpoint:
Bird-eye
High Angle
Eye-level Angle
Low Angle
Bird-eye view/PLAN VIEW
The term bird-eye view can also be referred to as a plan view or shoot from above.
A bird-eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird and this can also link to aerial photography.
Look at this amazing photographer’s process for aerial photography.
Antoine Rose
Some of this photographer’s images - https://www.antoinerose.com/
Useful pages to look at on this subject:
The birds-eye viewpoint is used for other photography genres and a helicopter is not required. By moving with technology, this viewpoint has increased in its use for documenting environments or events, by using a drone. You can see that many wedding photographers are offering this service to clients as a great way to capture the day, event and crowds of guests.
For commercial photography, this type of composition is used to photograph both products and food. Here is a further list of the subjects, objects and landscapes that this form of photography is used for: Beach, City, Table, Desk, Car, Bed & Office.
Here are some examples of my own photographs taken from this viewpoint.
The reason for using this viewpoint in your photography is to capture all the key elements within your composition. The fact that the image has been taken from above shows further detail when shooting aerial photographs and this type of detail is something you will not always see from a lower angle of view. The latest trend in food photography is to shoot a photograph called a hero shot which is a photograph of a selection of different dishes placed on a table and shot from above.
Take a further look at what has been taken with this viewpoint and what other people are creating with this composition technique:
https://www.eyeem.com/blog/a-birds-eye-view-photography-from-above
https://www.solopress.com/blog/photography/amazing-birds-eye-view-photos/
I hope by reading and looking at the video/images, you may decide to play with this composition technique. In the following blog, I will continue with the Viewpoint composition technique and explain the other ways to show viewpoints in your photography.
Thank you for reading.