Is today’s blog, my first of 2011, about tips on how to photograph your friend in those pajamajeans she got for Christmas (c’mon, you know those make your ass look damn hot, and you cannot WAIT for them to be available for men…)?  NO!  Today’s blog is about:

SHOOTING AT AN ANGLE!!!

Huh?  what?  an angle?  that’s just effing nuts!  But nooooo… it’s not!  it’s actually such a kick ass way to shoot a photo.  And it gives a whole different attitude to the subject, like “yeah, look at me, i DOMINATE this photo.”  And i’m not even talking just about people.  In fact, i won’t even show my people examples (as in “The American People”, Katie) until the end.

Let’s start with buildings.  In fact, let’s start with one of the hardest buildings to photograph… a church (and no, i’m not saying it’s hard because i never attend church, don’t go gettin’ ahead of yourself and read into it that way…).  Churches are hard because they are both big and beautiful.

This church is one of the most beautiful ones i’ve ever seen.. Duomo di Firenze.  incredible. insane. breathtaking.  So you have two choices.  Try to take a unique photo that someone hasn’t already seen a million frickin’ times, or just go to the gift shop and buy a postcard.  I prefer the former, obviously. SO, in comes the angle:

i know!  awesome, right?  Let’s try another building… how about… Zee Eiffel Tower!  La Tour Eiffel!  you’ve seen so many photos of it, you can conjure up the image right this second.  So on your next vacation, skip the postcards, skip the obvious photo, and go for the angle!!!!  et voila:

ok, this i took with my iphone – hipstamatic app (which i am SO over, but we’ll cover that in another blog) so it’s a bit blurry this large, but let’s stick to the point of the ANGLE, shall we?!

What about a stadium?  easy.  (this is the new stadium being built for the 2012 London Games, btw).

boom.

And finally, my favorite… a bunch of really tall-ass buildings that make up a skyline, as in this beauty i shot in the mother of all tall-ass building cities, Shanghai:

are we loving angles?  want a few more examples?  OK!!

Let’s go with the subject of “TOTALLY RANDOM SHIT.”

First, how about someones feet?  dare me?

A cat in a car?  no problem:

(silly kitty.)

a bathroom, you say?  really?  hell… ok!

should note here… these are all photo’s that i have shot over time… not ones i took anytime recently just for this post… thought would be good to acknowledge that my brain really does work this way… when i see something cool, i shoot it, even if it is a place to poop.

OK, here’s a first! I’m sharing with you a photo i JUST got on FB today from my friend Abby who is spending a torturous Christmas down in Brazil… check out her photo!  the Angle!

(it’s as if you read my mind, soul sistah…)

OK, now onto the final angle topic:  people.  yay.  love shooting people at an angle (you may have noticed a bunch already in my previous posts…).

here are a few examples:

Yup, my daughter again.

Yes that is a beer, no, she did not have more than a sip, but yes, we are in Italy where it actually is legal, and yes, it is in Vatican City which is hilarious, and no, she is not driving (c’mon, she’s only nine… sheesh).

(this is my buddy David de Rothschild… an amazing adventurer, explorer, and if you care about our planet you should definitely check up on what this dude is doing).  Oh, and those were his feet i posted earlier… no qualms about painting his big toe pink.

two of my favorite people… Sandy Bodecker (yep, the guy that flipped me off in my last post) and Tinker Hatfield, only, in my humble opinion, the most iconic NIKE designer of all time (read: Air Jordan).

Ava!  cutest little thing, and notice how the angle helps capture both her smile AND the flowers perfectly!

ok, one more, because she is SO lovely and it demonstrates not only an angle but a trick i will talk about in a future post:

ladies and gentlemen, Monyca Byrne-Wickey – pro surfer hailing from Hawaii, check her out, and like Annie from post #1, shewillalsoblowyourmind.

So, let’s summarize what’s happening here: SHOOTING AT AN ANGLE – It’s fun, it’s creative.  and the best part, is all you have to do is TURN THE EFFING CAMERA ABOUT 45 DEGREES AND TAKE THE SHOT YOU WERE GONNA TAKE ANYWAY.

Aaaaand… if you combine the topics in my last posts about cropping, asking someone to say cheese and getting flipped off, AND shooting at an angle, look at what gems you get!

(thank you, Nikki).

My friends, as of this posting more than 480 of you have clicked on my blog.  A few of you have told me (and shown me – see actual reader examples newly posted in my blog #1) you are applying some of these tricks to your latest photos.  None of you have yet told me i’m an idiot and to f*&k off.  So, as always, i am humbled, grateful and honored.  And no, dad, i have not yet shot a tarmac.

Until the next, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Make it a great one and do something crazy.

AC

PS – if for whatever reason you’re interested in checking out my Flikr photostream which has basically some of my faves i’ve taken on there, head over to http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrea_corradini/