Expert wildlife photographer Steve Perry of Backcountry Gallery showcases the power of camera height in a new educational video. One of the most powerful and effective ways to change a wildlife photo’s story is by shooting from different heights relative to the subject.

“Using the advice in this video can transform your photography overnight,” Perry says, adding that understanding the proper camera height for a given subject and situation will elevate snapshots to artwork.

Perry outlines the three main ways that perceived camera height changes the story an image tells. The first is a perspective from above the subject’s eye level.

“When a viewer looks at a photo taken from above eye level, they feel as though they are dominating the animal and are less connected to the subject visually,” Perry explains, citing that the phrase “looking down on someone” has a negative connotation.

“99% of the time, a wildlife photo improves when you use one of the other two options,” Perry says. This is very important when considering smaller animals, which photographers would typically be looking down at if they were standing and holding their camera to their eye.

Consider PetaPixel’s coverage of the 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards and the wildlife winners from 2021’s Nature Photographer of the Year competition. Browsing the beautiful winning images, there are very few wildlife photos shot from anything other than at the eye level of the subject, even when considering tiny animals that a photographer must lay down on the ground to photograph. The same remains true for PetaPixel’s Wild Personalities Photo Contest.

Perry admits there are exceptions to the rule, but in most cases, photographers should try to be at the same level, or perhaps even below, a wildlife subject.

“When a photo is captured at or very near eye level, the feeling between the viewer and the subject changes dramatically. It gives the viewer a feeling of connection and engagement with the animal that stems from the equality that naturally arises when you are at the same height,” Perry explains.

He puts it very well when he adds that a photo captured from the same level as the subject can make the viewer feel like they are stepping into the animal’s world rather than viewing it from a disconnected or distant perspective. This feeling of connectedness is very important and is also related to the importance of seeing a subject’s eyes in an image.

“When you shoot at eye level, you are literally creating a bond that thrusts your viewer into the animal’s head,” Perry adds.

Another powerful compositional tool is shooting from below. Perry warns that it requires the right subject to be effective.

“When the viewer position is lower than the subject’s eye level, the subject feels like it is dominating the viewer or even the territory,” Perry explains. An animal photographed from below can seem powerful, imposing, and perhaps even terrifying.

Photographing animals from their level or perhaps even below them has another massive benefit for wildlife imagery, the perspective can significantly increase the distance between the subject and the background, resulting in beautiful, soft backgrounds.

Perry has talked about the importance of camera height before. In a video earlier this year about six common mistakes that nearly all wildlife photographers make, shooting at the wrong camera height made the list.

Another frequent and related mistake is when photographers do not consider the background when taking wildlife photos. An ideal camera height can fix this issue.

Consider a situation where a camera is pointed down at a small animal on the ground. The ground behind the animal is very close, making the background appear somewhat sharp and distracting even with a fast lens. All else equal, by lowering to the subject’s level, the background will almost always be much further away and can be rendered much more pleasing.

It can be challenging to shoot when a camera is low to the ground, so Perry recommends using a camera’s rear display in some instances. Many modern cameras sport tilting screens, and some are even fully articulating, which makes it much easier to compose images using the rear display. With mirrorless cameras, the live view experience is identical between the viewfinder and the display.

In many locations, when armed with a long lens, Perry uses the terrain to lower his perspective. Sometimes his subject is downhill from him, but that does not mean an eye-level shot is impossible. In these cases, getting low and keeping the camera square to the hill’s grade can make it look like an image was shot on flat ground.

For years, street photographer Irving Greines avoided documenting homeless people feeling that taking photos is intrusive and exploitative. Eventually, though, he felt compelled to document the growing unhoused population.

Los Angeles, where Greines is based, has seen homelessness rise in recent years with an estimated 75,000 people living in temporary accommodation.

81-year-old Greines tells PetaPixel that he has noticed the increase and has also observed the general public doing their best to avoid looking at, communicating with, and interacting with the unsheltered population.

Greines says that for years he refrained from taking photos of what he saw because he felt it was wrong. But a few years ago, he felt a compulsion to document what he was seeing.

“As a photographer, I needed to capture what I was seeing…The conflict was real,” he says

“Eventually, and with great reluctance and hesitation, I started photographing the street people, not knowing that the first photographs would lead to others and others.”

Greines says he set rules. Taking the opposite approach to most people; he opted to communicate and interact with all the homeless people he came across. He also promised himself to never profit from the images.

“I exclusively document with the hope that, upon viewing the images, others might observe, understand, and be motivated to alleviate some of the awful conditions under which fellow Americans are living,” he says.

Greines believes the project has changed his life.

“I have had innumerable encounters with real people, living real lives without any of the conveniences that I have always enjoyed,” he says.

“I’ve made friends with the street people and have grieved their unexplained disappearances. They have enriched my life.”

Engaging With Homeless People

Greines says he always approaches his subjects “in the friendliest manner possible” and never asks them to pose. Sometimes, after he’s taken an individual’s picture he will make a print for them which is often welcomed — occasionally with emotion.

However, engagement is not always possible. Sadly, homelessness is associated with mental health issues, drug addiction, and veterans suffering from PTSD; among other ailments.

“On relatively rare occasions, there is abuse. Some subjects are hostile and respond angrily and aggressively,” says Greines. But, he says, these incidents are rare. Although he sometimes faces abuse from bystanders who strongly object to his work.

“I get it and certainly understand why some might object to what I’m doing,” explains Greines. “I don’t think they are wrong; they simply have no way of knowing or understanding the documentary purpose of the project. Even with such knowledge, I acknowledge that some could legitimately object. I get it.”

Street Photography Setup

Greines uses a simple camera setup (a Sony a7R III and one wide lens) that he keeps strapped to his wrist so he is always ready to shoot.

“I use only one lens because I feel that having more than one lens impedes the fluidity needed in an active street environment. I make my one-lens set up work, and I use my feet as my zoom.”

Ethics

Greines understands why some people object to his documentary project and says he refrained from capturing homelessness for years because of the same ethical issues.

“Just as ethical concerns can legitimately arise concerning my documentation of the street people, similar concerns can likewise pertain to other documentary efforts of people living in awful circumstances; consider, for example, the images of Capa, Salgado, Nachtwey and many others,” he says.

“Documentary efforts like these can legitimately be viewed as exploitative, demeaning, et cetera. Yet, all reveal life as it is. Whether that is worthwhile is for others to debate and decide.

“I wrestled with these concerns for years before commencing the project. For reasons I’ll never completely understand, I crossed the Rubicon many years ago, after years of restraining.”

“And, while I understand and sympathize with those who might legitimately criticize, documenting was something I simply had to do,” he continues.

“The sadness of the lives of my subjects can only be alleviated if others, who have refused to see or have not had occasion to see, actually see.

“My goal in documenting the street people is to try to prompt people to see and understand, not avoid, so that, maybe, political solutions might emerge.”

More of Greines’ work can be found on his website.

Image credits: All photos by Irving Greines.