Down Low Photography

One way to shake-up your pretty girl shooting, you know, to kick it up a notch and add drama and interest, is by getting low. I'm not talking low-brow or mind-in-the-gutter low, although those mind-sets sometimes work, I'm referring to your shooting angles: Your position with the camera relative to the model, i.e., shooting up, rakishly up, from down low with radical, upward-looking, shooting angles.

I often shoot from somewhat low-ish angles. Sometimes, I shoot from way down low angles. That doesn't just mean plopping my ass on an apple box and shooting up. (Which I'm often prone to doing.) It also means dropping my ass even lower: On my back or on my belly low. (On my back tends to be lower than on my belly altho my diet has me in shrinking belly mode and, before too long, I should be good-2-go, belly up or belly down.) Also, placing the model on a riser in the studio with a seamless behind her or positioning the model higher (than you) on a slope when you're shooting exterior locations are a couple of other ways to capture down-low goodness. (Without the need to lie on your back or belly.)

Besides adding drama and interest, shooting from down low adds power to the model, i.e., makes her seem more powerful in the image. Conversely, shooting from high angles downward often has the opposite effect. Photographing models from eye-level angles can often be boring is kind of neutral in terms of sending subtle or not-so-subtle messages to the image's viewers.

For viewers, images shot from down-low (that is, shot from low with angles looking up) can make models really stand-out in a dominant way even when the background environment is dramatic and powerful, e.g., awesome sunsets or other dramatic skies, cool urban skylines, other breathtaking landscapes or really cool interiors. BTW, when I say "dominant," I don't necessarily mean it in a sexual sense -- although that can also be accomplished from down-low shooting -- I'm speaking more to the way viewers perceive the model when you're shooting from radically low positions and angled up.

If you want to go even further with this down-low stuff, try shooting from very low with Dutch angles. (A canted camera.) Doing so also produces really cool, less-often-seen, images.

Kayla, once again at the top, this time from down-low with her shining light on me. I gotta say, it's always a nice view when I'm down-low, between a hot model's legs, looking up. Yeah, I know, get your mind outa the gutter, Jimmy. But hey! I'm often being paid for having my mind in the gutter. It's part of my profession. It's like, when I'm on duty, I'm a paid perv. Besides, I'm a guy, right? A straight guy. I'm wired that way. So there!