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Points of view in a holiday resort
A simple example for the effect of different points of view. Three photos in a holiday resort, only a few steps between them.
First: a snapshot
The photos on this page are about the houses of a holiday resort on the Canary Islands, they should be on a picture together with the lush greenery. First of all, a snapshot without much thought, pointing the camera at the houses from the end of a path and pressing the shutter release button.
What stands out? The resort with the lush greenery is undoubtedly clearly recognisable, but no good photo has been taken yet: On the left of the picture is a large bare wall, in front of it a truncated fountain, the greenery on the right hides the windows of the houses.
Two steps to the left, one back
The perspective has changed - the bare wall is partially hidden by a tree and more of the houses on the right becomes visible. The fountain is recognisable as such, but it is too large for a decorative foreground. It rather looks as if it is in the way for the view onto the houses behind.
Two more steps to the left and two back
Ah! The bare wall has disappeared, there is considerably more to be seen of the houses on the right. The banisters to the left of the centre form a line leading into the picture, as do the right edge of the path and the facades to the right.
The fountain has become even smaller, covering only a small part of the facade and serving its function as a decorative element in the picture, just as it does in reality. On the right, a palm tree joined the picture, which is welcome to protrude into the picture from above, and its shadow is clearly visible on the ground, breaking up the uniform surface of the path and adding more traces of the rich planting there.
With a viewpoint from a little further back, the picture could be changed even further, in particular the fountain could be made a little smaller. However, there was a wall there and behind it an abyss; the search for other angles of view had a simple and unavoidable end.
The final section
I have cropped the last image slightly; the exact position of the edges is better set at leisure on the monitor and this image looks a little more balanced if the dominant tree on the left is made a little smaller. The narrower aspect ratio of 4:3 is ideal for this purpose.
The green plants form more of a frame for the resort than a picture element in their own right. At the same time, I have reduced the size of the monotonous floor in the foreground. The houses come into their own a little better this way.
Taking different viewpoints is image editing with your feet, you can't take correct it later and no camera will do it for you. Observe and practise, it would be a pure stroke of luck if the place where a subject catches your eye is also the most favourable point of view for a photo.