Photo Tip: Get Low
Look at everything as though you are seeing it either for the first or last time, then your time on earth will be filled with glory.
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
My view of Tim from the floor of the Land Cruiser.
“I’d love to get down low” I whispered. “If we find a good spot you can get out” Pilipili replied. Get out? My heart rate rose a few more levels. Although the bull elephants appeared peaceful and benign, at six tons Big Tusker Tim could flip our truck with one casual swing of his trunk or step on me and it would be all over.
Keeping an eye on the elephants, Pilipili slipped out of the truck and opened the door beside me. “You can lie down on the floor.” I squeezed myself between the front and back seats and stretched out on my belly. (Excerpt from my upcoming book - The Wisdom of Elephants)
Big Tusker Tim and his famous friends were 13 feet tall and weighed over 6 over tons each. Getting low emphasized the size and power of these animals.
Tim’s right tusk weighed 160lbs and touched the ground. The left tusk weighed in at 134 lbs.
Get low was my friend Tyler Shaw’s best photo tip. Tyler came to Kenya with us on the first volunteer trip I co-led in 2010. We often stood beside each other photographing the same scene, but my images felt flat in comparison. I asked him for advice, he replied, “Get low Kathy.”
Amboseli Elephant Family
Getting low is more intimate. In the image above, if I’d been sitting in the top tier seat in the Land Cruiser, I would have had a great view of the landscape and the tops of the young elephant’s heads. Lying on the floor allowed me to see into this family grouping, revealing the antics of the adolescent elephants at play.
Friend and fellow photographer Tyler Shaw – The Giraffe Centre, Nairobi, Kenya
Tyler loved animals as much as I do. I tried to capture his joy and the extraordinary size of the giraffes’ heads in the image above by bending my knees, so I was below eye level. Tragically, Tyler died in 2012. I miss him and his joie de vivre so much. His beautiful photography and wise words continue to inspire me.
Maasai Warriors leaping - Photo credit Tyler Shaw
Eventually “get low” became a habit. When I survey a scene, I experiment with points of view. Higher? Lower? Move to the left or move to the right? Different perspectives impact the emotional charge of an image. With the advent of the iPhone, we’re all photographers now. Experiment. See what happens to your image when you get low. Assess the scene and ask yourself - Would this image be more powerful if I got lower?
Last week I promised I’d show some images from my new Fuji XT-4. I’m happy to report I got past the QR code message and took a few pictures. However, I did not have time to get outside and photograph. It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada as I write this. I plan to photograph the fall colours. Checkin next week for the results!
This week’s book recommendation is by another Canadian photographer, Freeman Patterson. Photography and Art of Seeing was the first photography book I bought. Even if you aren’t a photographer, Patterson’s writing, images, and message are worth the read. I think he is one of Canada’s National treasures.
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