Sometimes your images can use a simple twist to give them a different look. I will often use a different lens, like a fisheye lens, to get this look. Another simple tool you can use to transform your image is to skew the angle when you capture your image.
We have already added the tool to our Photography Toolkit of using both vertical and horizontal orientations to give a different feel to an image. Now try creating images that are neither vertical or horizontal, but at an obviously skewed position.
A Simple Shift
This is simple to do and you can use any lens. Start by framing your image in either the vertical or horizontal format as you normally would. Then rotate your camera to one side around 45 degrees. The angle you rotate depends on what you are photographing, what you want to leave in the frame and what you want to exclude from the frame.
You will find you may be including a lot more extraneous elements that were not included when you originally composed and framed the image. If you are using a zoom lens, you may want to zoom a little closer. If you are using a fixed focal length lens, you may want to move a bit closer.
What you don’t want to do when skewing the angle is only slightly change the angle a bit. Then it just looks like you can’t get your horizon straight and that you made a mistake when framing through your viewfinder. The angle you choose should be deliberate. That way the viewer of your image knows that you captured the image this way on purpose.
When to Skew
So when do I decide to use a skewed angle? Sometimes I am just looking to capture something different. I like to experiment with the framing of a shot that I am capturing and I will skew the angle. Other times I have captured the image in both vertical and horizontal format and I am not sure which I like better. So I also try to skew the angle for a third composition of the same scene.
Other times, I am zoomed out as far as I can go or backed up against a wall and I just can’t fit everything into the frame. So when I skew the angle of the camera, I am able to fit more into the image. This is especially true when capturing an image of something large like a building. If I can’t fit it all in the frame, a skewed angle will help.
Use the Subject to Help Guide You
When I choose the angle that I will use to skew the camera, I let the subject be my guide. If there is a strong diagonal line in the image, I will sometimes put one end of that diagonal line up in the corner of the frame. This way it extends to the opposite corner of the image.
I composed the image so his bamboo pole starts in the upper left part of the frame and extends to the lower right part of the frame.
If I don’t have a strong diagonal, then I still try to let the lines in the image guide me. I try to place lines so they are parallel with the sides of the frame.
I have tried to rotate the camera so the jagged line of the edge of the building is parallel with the edges of the image. This image also illustrates how I determine how to frame a skewed image – if my subject has anything pointed in it like a tower, I will try putting that pointed end in one of the corners of my frame.
Viewer Emotions
Remember that the framing of an image elicits different emotions and feelings in the viewer. A vertically framed image tends to evoke feelings of strength and power. While a horizontally framed image evokes feelings of calm and tranquility.
So what type of feelings does a skewed image evoke in the viewer? A skewed image can often give the viewer a sense of tension. This is because they are not used to viewing an image that does not align with the horizon. If you have a situation which already has tension and want to add more, try skewing the angle. For example, there is already tension in a protest and skewed angle images can add even more tension.
Viewed Vertically or Horizontally
At the end of the day your skewed angle image will have to be viewed either horizontally or vertically. You are not going to frame a picture and put in on your wall at a skewed angle. You will have to decide if your skewed image is better viewed horizontally or vertically.
Sometimes it is hard to tell what what your image will look like when you have skewed the angle. This is because the image looks the right way up when you view it through the camera. It is not until you view the image on the camera screen or on your computer that you will truly see how the image looks and what feeling it evokes.
Even when you view it on the camera’s LCD screen, the camera might rotate it one way or another because it is unsure if the image you captured is in the horizontal or vertical format. When you look on the screen on the back of your camera, try turning it both vertically and horizontally and see which way you like the image better. Better yet, wait until you are able to view the image on your computer screen in a larger format so you are really able to evaluate which format – vertical or horizontal – you like better.
After capturing a skewed angle image, try viewing the image both vertically and horizontally to see which one you like best. The same image looks very different when viewer in the two formats. It is almost hard to believe it is the same photograph! Which version of the pillars above do you like better?
Workshop: Skewed angle
In this workshop, you will be deliberately skewing the way you hold your camera to capture an image at an odd angle. The degree to which you skew your camera is up to you but try to make the angle deliberate so it doesn’t look like you have just had difficulty holding your camera straight.
If there are diagonal lines in your subject then you might want to try to line up those lines with the edge of your frame. Otherwise, if you have something that comes to a point like a tower, you may want to try to put that point in one corner of your skewed angle image. A good place to start might be buildings but this technique can really work with anything.
