Looking Up, Looking Down

The world looks a bit different depending on your viewpoint. In taking photographs I’ve always been encouraged to shoot from various angles as a slight change can substantially alter and perhaps improve the resulting photograph…. especially true when using a wide angle lens. And we know sometimes we should get down on our knees to take a photo, but then, for me, it seems to be getting harder to get back up again.

So for this challenge, I want to go for the extremes of Looking Up, and Looking Down, to show the effects of what you can capture at these angles and get a different perspective on our view of the world.

Looking up at buildings is a good place to start, whether it’s a skyscraper, a university spire or a local church. This angle grants you that worm’s eye view and exaggerates the height with those converging vertical lines to add a good deal of drama.

But then, lets switch and start Looking Down – down from the parapets of those many bridges.

Following a sports theme, I’ve picked some other action images taken with my lenses pointed upwards …or downwards.

How am I going to finish this ramble about the ups and downs of photography. Well, I talked about extremes and what’s more diverse than shooting down from a bridge at a swimming penguin?…. and then shooting up in the sky at the Royal Air Force’s display team in action – the Red Arrows?

125 thoughts on “Looking Up, Looking Down”

  1. James, you have provided us with plenty of excellent examples for this challenge. Your photos are gorgeous. I could not pick a favorite, but I’m leaning toward the sports/action shots. You excelled there. Beautiful photos.

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  2. Fabulous theme, James, and wonderful images and text to show us the benefits of trying different perspectives. Like most of us, I get lazy, but when I look at your photos, I realize that I can potentially create more dramatic shots with greater impact. Thanks so much for being our guest host this week. You did a terrific job! Here’s a link to my post:

    LAPC #276: Looking Up, Looking Down

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Thank you, Alison! the penguin is a favourite of mine but I haven’t been sure how others see it – so thanks. I’m sure you’ll come up with some great images from your archives.

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  20. hi James! An interesting theme and lovely photographs! Thank you for hosting this week’s challenge, looking forward to join in!
    for looking up shots, my favorites would be the viaduct (usually we focus more on getting the frontal photo of the whole structure, this upward angle is refreshing!), and the poppies! for looking down, the cyclist and the penguin!

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