Don’t take it for granted! Angles.

Everyday I walk by this church, is very small, and if you were to ask me if there is a church nearby I would never think of this one. I always take it for granted. But it’s funny that I have walked by and shot this 3 or 4 times. Once because the night sky lit it in an amazing way.

The other time, I looked up and the blue sky and angle of the cross and steeple called my attention. Makes me wonder how many things we walk by that have an aspect of beauty and we just have not found the angle. As I have said before, I find beauty in everyone, you just need to find that angle. Finding it may take time and that is when photography becomes art. You are not just grabbing a camera and capturing what is in front of you, you are looking to find something, what is that something? that is up to you.

Many years ago I was invited to give a workshop on street photography, I assigned the students to photograph a fire hydrant. Some shot it from the side, some from the top, and one really found her art angle. Hydrants give water, so why not use that angle. She took images with the hydrant being a sprinkler, a close up of a drop that reflected the top of the hydrant (no photoshop) and the one she chose to show me first, was one of a dog watering the hydrant. The image was so surreal not only in its context but also in the way it was taken. And no, the doggies privates were not in the shot. I spent the better part of that week out on the streets with her, watching her work, shooting her work, we both learned a tremendous amount from each other. After going through 20-30 contact sheets of dogs peeing on hydrants we found 2 angles we liked. She shot one and I did the other. I shot mine with a 4×5 Deardorff camera, and wow that image was probably one of the most beautiful images I have ever taken. That was probably the only time in my life that I took the time to look for the “angle”. I have to try shooting it again as the film one day went missing! This time will be my Canon, so I hope it will be as stunning. So when I say the angle, is not just about geometry but also about concept.

Walk around, keep your eyes wide open, think about what you want from your subject, and if in doubt ask a friend; another point of view is always another angle.