Many photographers typically expose from a standing position, and in many instances this provides a suitable vantage point.
Yet, in some circumstances your natural standing height may not give you the optimal viewpoint.
I’m not talking about gaining elevation; that’s a topic for another day.
Sometimes making a small adjustment, by lowering the height of your camera can make for a noticeably different photograph.
Both images below were exposed the other day from the Shore Line East high-level platform at Westbrook, Connecticut. I was using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera fitted with a 27mm pancake lens. This is a fixed focal length lens, rather than a zoom. My exposure and nominal post-processing adjustment were the same in both images.
The first was made from my normal standing position.
The second was made from the same basic angle to the train, but from about a foot lower down.
I was especially troubled by the hooks of the platform lamps on the far side of the cars that makes for an incongruous shapes. These add nothing of value to the image, and could easily be mistaken for some appendage atop the cars.
Notice the relationship of the NH herald, and more importantly the change to the distracting elements above and beyond the passenger cars.
Try this technique for yourself.
Use the opportunity offered by a paused train to expose several images from slightly different angles by making small changes in elevation. Pay careful attention to foreground and background elements as well as window reflections.
Tracking the Light displays new material every day.
