If you crouch super low, and photograph upwards, you make your subject look larger than life (like superman):
I think Robert Capa did the heroic low-angle photograph well. I think a lot of his photos he crouched down super low, and just photographed his subjects against the sky. This gave his subjects more power — they looked ‘larger than life’:
CHINA. 1938. A Chinese pilot.
Why do they call it the ‘superman effect’?
Imagine you were to shoot a superman movie. Let us say the Superhero actor is only 5 foot 6 inches (Tom Cruise height). How can we make him look bigger, stronger, and more powerful?
Simple: shoot with a wide-angle lens (24mm, 28mm), from a low-angle perspective.
Practice getting low
Get lower than your subject, and photograph looking up. This will add more drama to your photographs.
Do more squats at the gym

Practice squatting “ass to grass” (or ass to ground). Squat super low, and shoot looking up. Even if you don’t get any good street photographs, at least you get a great leg workout!
What I like to do is this:
When studying perspective, draw perspective lines in the background (as I have done above in red).
This will help you better analyze and understand the effect of perspective on your photos.
Note the heightened drama of the man dancing above: photo shot on Canon 5D, and 17mm (super wide!) lens.
Avoid boring (common) perspectives

Generally speaking, photos shot at eye-level aren’t that interesting. This is because we are used to seeing the world this way. Better to be super interesting with your perspectives (super low angle, or super high angle), than to use the ‘mediocre’ (middle-average) angle.
When in doubt, get low!

Experiment shooting more getting low:
- Photograph your subject against the sky
- Look at the background for interesting leading lines that point toward your subject
- Shoot before thinking: Don’t think too much when shooting street photography (shoot from the gut)
SHOOT ON!
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COMPOSITION 101

Street Photography Composition Tips
- High Angle Perspective Street Photography Composition Technique
- How to Shoot Low Angle Perspective Street Photography Composition Technique
Photography Composition Concepts

- 5 Simple Photography Composition Tips
- How to Compose a Photograph
- Edge Detection Photography Composition
- Vector (Arrow) Photography Composition
- Clear and Obscure (Chiaroscuro) Photography Composition
Photography Composition Tips

- How to Photograph Motion
- Photography Composition: Which Direction is Your Subject Looking?
- Blocking Technique in Photography
- How to Shoot a Triangle Photography Composition
- How to shoot a golden triangle composition in street photography
- 8 Simple Curve Composition Tips
- 5 Simple Henri Cartier-Bresson Composition Tips
- Foot Zoom
- Photography Composition: Light and Dark
- Street Photography Composition Lesson #16: Scale
- Shape, Arrangement, Position (S.A.P.) and Contour, Inter-Contact, Position (C.I.A.) in Photography
- 10 Tips How to Fill the Frame in Photography
- Look Up! 16 Photography Composition Perspective Tips
- 5 Simple Street Photography Composition Tips
- Depth Perception
- Golden Angle Composition in Street Photography
- Photographer as an “Arranging Artist”
- Dynamic Off-Center Street Photography Compositions
- 5 Essential Composition Tips in Photography
Color Theory

- Red and Green Composition Color Theory For Photographers
- The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Color Photography
- Opponent Process Color Theory For Photographers
- Color Theory For Photographers
- Color Manual
- How to Shoot Color Street Photography
Learn From the Masters of Composition

- 10 Lessons Matisse Can Teach You About Art and Life
- Henri Cartier-Bresson Composition
- 10 Timeless Lessons Edward Weston Can Teach You About Photography
- 10 Inspirational Sergio Larrain Compositions
- 5 Henri Cartier-Bresson Photography Composition Lessons
Dynamic Photography Composition 101

- Introduction to Dynamic Photography Composition
- How to Visually Analyze Your Photography Compositions
- Dynamic Tension: Opponent Based Theory For Photography
- Opponent Process Color Theory For Photographers
- Dynamic Photography Composition 101: Figure to Ground
Painting Compositions

Dynamic Photography Composition Tips

- 7 Simple Photography Composition Tips
- How to Make Aggressive Photography Compositions
- 10 Dynamic Photography Composition Tips
- How to Make More Dynamic Picture Compositions
- Unorthodox Photography Composition Techniques
- Deconstructed: Saigon Eric Kim Photos
Composition Theory

- Gestalt Theory
- Juxtaposition
- Center Eye
- Low-Angle
- Dutch Angle
- Deep Depth
- Spacing
- Silhouette
- Leading Lines
- Figure to Ground
- Fibonacci Spiral
- Cropping
- Emotion
- Composition by Eric Kim
Street Photography Composition 101

- Composition Lesson #1: Triangles
- Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground
- Composition Lesson #3: Diagonals
- Composition Lesson #4: Leading Lines
- Composition Lesson #5: Depth
- Composition Lesson #6: Framing
- Composition Lesson #7: Perspective
- Composition Lesson #8: Curves
- Composition Lesson #9: Self-Portraits
- Composition Lesson #10: Urban Landscapes
- Composition Lesson #11: “Spot the not”
- Composition Lesson #12: Color Theory
- Composition Lesson #13: Multiple-Subjects
- Composition Lesson #14: Square Format
Composition Theory

- Why is Composition Important?
- Don’t Think About Composition When You’re Shooting Street Photography
- How to Use Negative Space
- Street Photography Composition 101
- The Theory of Composition in Street Photography: 7 Lessons from Henri Cartier-Bresson
Compositional lessons from the masters of art
Composition lectures
Composition pictures/grids


Golden Diagonal Composition











