When To Use The Low Camera Angle

On this video, photographer Jay P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens talks about shooting from a low angle and when this could be a big advantage.

There are plenty of scenarios where shooting from a low angle close to the ground can be useful both in stills and in video productions.

Morgan has six types of shots where the low angle look is especially useful:

“Hero” shot – looking up at your model gives the impression of being bigger than life (it also stretches the legs of models.
Shots inside a box/case – if you have a large enough enclosure or small enough camera it could be a really interesting shot where your subject opens the case (you can also do this with the trunk of a car).
Reduce background clutter – if your background is too messy you can shoot from below and get the sky in the frame.
Point of view shot – if you want to make a shot from the point of view of a person the down-looking up point of view is great.
Run/walk perspective – a camera on the ground can capture a person running next to or even right on top of the camera and either getting closer or away from the camera.
Vehicles moving – similar to the previous one but this time the camera can actually be mounted on the moving vehicle close to the ground creating a very strong action style look (just watch some Hollywood blockbuster car chasing scenes).

You can find lot more photo tips and tutorials on our photography tips section here on LensVid, and you can find all of Jay P. Morgan’s videos here on LensVid on the following link.

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.