Getting high

No, not that kind of high.

I had an interesting shoot a couple of months ago. One of the local elementary schools asked me to do their grade level pictures again for their yearbook. They stencil out the grade number with tape (K thru 5) and then have the kids stand on the tape in the shape of their grade level. The key is to get high enough so that the number looks like a number. In order to get the shot, I had to go up on a lift (or a “cherry picker) and look straight down at the kids and shoot with a wide angle lens. I have no idea how high I was, but I could see over the rooftops of the nearby two story homes.

Last year when we did this it was really cold and it took 3 hours. I had to remain up on the lift the whole time because it takes so long to get into position. This year it wasn’t quite as cold but the blacktop was wet so the tape wouldn’t stick. So they simply measured with a tape measure and placed the kids where they wanted them to be. I felt the results weren’t as good as last year but probably good enough.

For the 4^th Grade picture above, I used my 18-55mm lens set at 19mm, f5.6 1/125 sec. I had to shoot extra wide because the school wanted these cropped to 8X10 and I wanted to leave myself plenty of cropping room.

So this got me thinking about the different perspective one gets from shooting up high. Obviously, I can't go two stories high in the studio (my garage) but I can stand on a stool.. I haven’t done a lot of shooting this way, but I’ve started incorporating this for at least some shots in every session

This one is one of my favorites. This is my sister–in-law shot from up high. This was shot with my 18-55mm lens set at 24mm at f16, 1/160sec ISO 125. I usually shoot in the studio at around f10 IS0 100 1/125 sec and for the life of me can’t remember why I changed it, though the results aren’t bad. The reason why I usually shoot wide in the garage is there’s just not enough room to get further away. I prefer my 50mm for portraits, but you work with what you have.

This is Kayla, my neighbor and sometimes model. Same lens set at 26mm, f10, 1/125 sec ISO 100. Again, I’m up on a stool. I wanted to get the look of a very shallow depth of field so I used Photoshop to throw part of the picture out of focus. I’m not positive I like the results and am still fine tuning this one.

Whether you’re a pro or not, try getting up high to change the look of your photos. If you’re photographing people just be sure your getting their faces and not the tops of their heads.