Evening star., 1951-02-25
Camera Angles
Ways to Make Different Photographs
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
Curator Of Photography
The Smifhsonion Institution


Once in a while even the most
versatile photographer will feel
that he has slipped into a sort Of
Photographic rut. He has. over
the years, successfully tried por-
traiture, landscapes. still life
shots. pictures Of animals and all
the rest and, having become more
Or less proficient in these varied
fields. is apparently up against
dead end.
II this happens to you, don't
despair for there are still a good
many ways to add novelty to your
camera work. We will mention q
few today with the suggestion that
you try your hand at them. There
is nothing like q new approach
to instill fresh life in q tagging
interst.
Most photographers who take a
serious interest In their work
strive to make something that is
different from the average pic
ture. They hunt here and there
for new scenes and If they must
take pictures scenery that has
been pictured before. try for diff
ferent angles and lightings-any-
thing to avoid duplicating. But
in spite Of this, average pictures
tend to be very much alike. A
picture of q lake in q mountain
setting is apt to be very much
like any other scene Of similar
subject matter. A photograph Of
a person, no matter what lengths
you may 60 to to use unusual
llghtings and camera angles, will
be very little different from other
portraits.
Mechanical Limitations.
In each case the similarity Is
due mostly to the mechanical lin
itations imposed by the photo
graphic process. There are ex-
ceptions but these are due either
to accident or to the exceptional
ability of top-flight camera pic
torialists whose thorough under
standing of all the Photographic
processes puts them in a class to
themselves. Since very few Of us
fall in this select group, we must
resort to other means to place the
stamp of individuality on our
work. ...
Let's take a concrete example
Of how one of group of pho
tographers can make his picture
outstandingly different even
though all of the group take the
same scene under identical work.
ing conditions. If each of the
group takes the picture at the
same time of day, under identical
lighting conditions, with the same
camera. and on the same type film,
using the same filter and at the
same shutter speed and lens OPEN
ing and all these films were pro-
cessed together you might very
we'll assume that each of the group
would wind up with identical pic
lures. Right you are-so far.
But now let us suppose that you,
as one of the group, are not sat
isfied with making a picture that
any one of the others in the group
can duplicate. In other words,
you want something different
from the run-of- the-mill snap
shots that are made by the thou
sands every day. One Of the many
ways to take your pictures out of
the snapshot class very quickly
and easily is by the paper mega
tive method. Immediately that
you inserted this step in the pro-
cess of making your final print,
your work would stand out from
that of the others and you could
lay claim to having something in
dividual and different. This is but
one example of what we mean by
getting out of the usual rut of
straight photography.
Change in Processing.
And there are other steps that
can be taken to reach the same
end. Some, such as reticulation
and solarization. are undertaken
during the processing of the neg
ative. Others-texture screen
printing and montage effects. to