Point of View photography

Point of View photography

Social media feeds are full of images that seem to document people’s lives for every single moment of the day. Don’t join the crowd and use your phone for a ‘that will do’ photo, use your  DSLR to capture a considered point-of-view (PoV) image that will grab the attention of your friends and family as they catch up on Facebook.

With some planning, and applying a few simple camera techniques, you’ll have an image that tells a story to be proud of, and will leave people wondering how you took the shot.

The key to a successful PoV photo is becoming ‘one’ with your tripod. You need to find a position where you can get both your hands and feet in the image to give the viewer a sense of what it’s like from your perspective.

To avoid jogging the camera during the exposure, and to have both hands in shot, use the self-timer. Remember that you are trying to replicate how the human eye would see the scene and to showcase your typical daily lifestyle.

Set the scene
Choose what you want your image to say about you, and include relevant props in the shot. A symmetrical scene, careful attention to the rule of thirds, and use of colour can give your image greater impact.

Perfect the Point of View
To get your camera to see the scene as your eyes would, set the tripod at eye level and use a focal length of 30mm or less to fit everything into the scene – remember, your hands will be in the composition, too.

Find your focus
Use manual AF point selection to focus on one of your hands or a prop you want to highlight. Get your hands (and feet!) into the frame then use your DSLR’s self-timer mode to take a snapshot of your life.