Low Point of View - Marshall Point Lighthouse, Port Clyde, Maine

One of the things that I have learned over the years is how to work a scene. What that means is to shoot the classic composition of a subject first and then experiment. Beginners often take that shot and think they are done. By working a scene you might end up with something completely different and better than you expected. How do I work a scene? I shoot from all different angles, trying to see if a different point of view works better. I will shoot at different focal lengths from wide-angle to telephoto. I also shoot from different heights: low, eye-level and high.

Often, one of the non-classic compositions will speak to you when you look at it. Take this low shot of Marshall Point Lighthouse. This subject has been shot numerous times from eye-level with great results. For this shot, I took my camera off of the tripod and placed it on the walkway to the light. I love how this shot turned out, as the eye can follow one of the boards through the photograph right to the door. While I have seen others with this composition shot at eye-level, I have not seen one from this low of an angle.