Photographers not only have to think about their subject matter, but they have to decide how they want to "shoot" it. They have to portray their image in a way that speaks to the subject in the best possible way and tells a story from the view that they see it and/or they want their viewers to see it when they look at their final piece of work. This week students had the opportunity to practice with different perspectives and see how their photographs changed when they moved their camera from bird's eye view (shooting from up high and looking down) and worm's view (shooting from down low looking up).
They were challenged to look at their surroundings from a different level of eyesight so their subject became enlarged or shrunk depending on the vantage point. Kindergartners were paired up and took on the role of "the bird" and "the worm" and actually got on the ground as "the worm" so they can see what a worm would see. Their partner was "the bird" and and they would shoot pictures of "the bird's" shoes or shoot up with the camera pointing upward so their partner would look like a huge giant.
The "birds" would stand above their "worms" and would hold their camera high in the air shooting down. Their subject then appears smaller then it would if they were shooting from a worm's eye view.
Here are some of their images. Don't forget to follow both Camarena and Hedenkamp students' work on twitter @photorobos and @huskylens
Of course they all love to share their images afterward and give feedback. This is a great way to improve on their skill by receiving constructive feedback and being inspired by other photographers' work.
The upper grades had the opportunity to play with forced perspective in which they created an optical illusion by using the foreground and background of the image. By placing an image in the foreground, it will appear bigger and the image in the background will appear smaller. Forced perspective is a technique which employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is.
They had an absolute blast but also struggled quite a bit to get their composition just right. They really had to rely on the communication between their partner/group members but persevered through trial and error. It was great seeing these students in action, and I was so impressed with all the creative poses they had.
Again, you can find more images on twitter @photorobos and @huskylens!