Basically, shooting below eye-level
is getting down until your eye is on the same level as the subject itself. For example,
if a small plant's height is only less than a metre, you will need to lower yourself
to a level that corresponds with its height, as shown in the first two photos below.
The first photo was simply shot with the camera aimed downwards.
In the other examples of the playground area (above, bottom pair), the first was photographed at eye-level while the second was shot below it. The difference is in the backgrounds, where the beams for the LRT system could be seen more rather than partly obscure in the eye-level photo. Of course, in terms of keeping the photo simple, the eye-level shot is more appropriate. Below is another pair of images where shooting below the eye-level method doesn't work very well. The first was photographed at the 200mm focal length (eye-level) of a zoom lens and the second was shot at the 135mm after kneeling down. The decision to set the focal length to135mm for the second photo was unintentional. Shooting at below eye-level did give more prominence to the brick foundation/flooring that the men were sitting and resting upon.
The bottom pair of the remaining images, of the boatman on this page is more in complying with below-the-eye-level shooting method. The first photo was shot at below eye-level while the second was photographed at eye-level. The difference in this pair is that in the first, the water had more reflection - the darker part was from the trees (not shown) from the other side of the lake while the lighter side was from the sky above. Shooting at eye-level had minimized the reflection of the trees and more on the sky. Even then, it wasn't exactly photographed at an eye-level angle as I was in fact taller than the boatman and for the first shot, it was really below eye-level as his boat was at the same level as my eyes when I bent down for the shot. Anyway, both shots work either way. It is up to one's personal preference as to which one is better. << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . |
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