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Creative Photography Exercises – Perspective For Storytelling
Lifestyle

By doing creative photography exercises you continue to challenge yourself and push your craft.

creative-exercise-perspective-for-storytelling

When I attended the Blographer in August, I got to listen to some amazing photographers. I loved Erin Cobb’s tip of changing your perspective to tell the view point of your subjects. This is a fantastic way to tell the story of what your subjects are seeing. It lets your viewers into their world.

Read more: How to take outstanding photos that tell a story

Creative Photography Exercises

My oldest loves to feed her younger sister breakfast. I wanted to capture this sweet relationship from each of their perspective.

My perspective
I see my girls eating breakfast and feeding each other. I see a sweet relationship and bond forming. Typically, we would snap this and move on. Don’t stop there! Capture each of your subject’s perspective to tell a better story.

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creative photography exercise

Baby’s perspective:
When the older girl feeds the baby there is so much concentration. She is such a little mama and wants to be so helpful. You can clearly see her focusing on her task at hand. This is what the baby sees as the older child feeds her. A sister who wants to do it right.
creative exercise

Child’s perspective:
No wonder she wants to help feed the baby, you can clearly see how much the baby adores her older sister. She happily eat each bit off the spoon and even gives her a few smiles in between.
creative photography exercise

Sweet and simple! Yet, if you put them together in a collage or book it adds so much more to the story to see each subject’s perspective. If you are interested in lifestyle photography, I highly suggest giving this creative photography exercise a try.

Get everyone’s perspective:
– Mom
– Dad
– Grandparents
– Child
– Dog/cat/bird/fish
– Stuffed animal

There is so much you can do with this exercise!

If you do participate in this exercise, please post your images on our Facebook page. I’d love to see the different perspectives.

Some other creative photography exercises you might enjoy:

8 tips to get you photography juices flowing
Get out of your photography rut in 10 steps
One subject, many vantage points
Photography bucket list
Photography project ideas

24 Comments
  • April 25, 2013 at 10:58 AM

    Great tip! Thanks for sharing!

    • Courtney Slazinik
      April 29, 2013 at 2:24 PM

      Glad you enjoyed it Sarah :)

  • April 25, 2013 at 11:34 AM

    Love this! I really believe that there is a recipe/logic/science to all things in photography! I will DEFINITELY be trying this in my upcoming shoots! :) Thanks for all that you do! -Jill

    • Courtney Slazinik
      April 29, 2013 at 2:25 PM

      It definitely takes thinking ahead of time to capture certain moments in different ways :)

  • April 25, 2013 at 12:19 PM

    What a wonderful idea! I love seeing the expressions… so much is gained from seeing this one scene from everyone’s point of view.

    • Courtney Slazinik
      April 29, 2013 at 2:25 PM

      Thanks! As a mama, I wanted to freeze those expressions :)

  • Franny Rogers
    April 25, 2013 at 12:46 PM

    What great ideas Courtney! I never thought about capturing those expressions quite like that!

    • Courtney Slazinik
      April 29, 2013 at 2:26 PM

      Thanks!! Have fun doing it :)

  • April 25, 2013 at 12:52 PM

    this is such a great thing to do!

    • Courtney Slazinik
      April 29, 2013 at 2:26 PM

      Thanks! Hope you will give it a try!

  • April 25, 2013 at 2:41 PM

    Great tips!

    • Courtney Slazinik
      April 29, 2013 at 2:26 PM

      Thanks! :)

  • April 25, 2013 at 10:01 PM

    This is sooo cute! Your daughters are adorable.

  • April 26, 2013 at 3:00 PM

    Great article! I couldn’t help but notice the similarities in our lives since I too am an Air Force wife and SAHM (although both of my kids are now in school) and home is definitely where the Air Force sends us. It sent us to the ugliest place in the US (Del Rio, TX) which for a landscape photographer, this has been a particularly challenging assignment. However, it’s making me a much better photographer too and for that I will be forever thankful. Thanks for sharing your tips!

    • Courtney Slazinik
      April 29, 2013 at 2:27 PM

      Wow! We do have a lot in common :) We haven’t been to Del Rio so I can imagine it is a challenge to photograph. I love that you are using it as a challenge instead of getting defeated :)

  • April 29, 2013 at 4:36 PM

    I hope for your sake that you’re never unfortunate enough to be sent here. However, I have to say that Texas cowboys have been a wonderful discovery for me. They are just so sweet, charming, and polite. In fact, I asked my husband on Saturday night(I had just finished photographing the big rodeo here) if we could adopt one and sadly enough, he said no. ;-)

    • Courtney Slazinik
      May 3, 2013 at 11:42 AM

      Ha! I was actually born in TX but only lived there for a little while. We are stationed at Abilene for a little while as well. I have to say the people are amazing there. You could definitely take some awesome cowboy pics :)

      • May 3, 2013 at 11:51 AM

        I was able to get some great rodeo pictures this past week! However, Del Rio, Texas is NOTHING like the rest of Texas as anyone who’s ever been here will tell you. This is FAR more desert and being that it’s only three-count them, THREE miles from Mexico, it also feels like you’re in the crappy, not the touristy-part of Mexico. ;-)

  • April 29, 2013 at 9:08 PM

    Lovely photos and fantastic suggestions. Thank you!

    • Courtney Slazinik
      May 3, 2013 at 11:43 AM

      Thanks!

  • Kirsten
    February 22, 2014 at 10:01 AM

    Thank you for posting this! I love the stories that photos tell, and really want more of that in my own photography. These are great tips and your girls are precious! What a fabulous moment to capture :)

  • February 23, 2014 at 1:10 AM

    The idea of perspective is something I’ve learned in EVERY photography class I’ve taken. For some reason, it’s also the lesson I so easily forget, along with the advice to MOVE. ;-) Thanks for the reminder! I mentioned this post in a post of mine as well…maybe I’ll help to remind someone, too. :-) Thank you, Courtney!

    • February 25, 2014 at 10:59 AM

      Thanks for the mention :) Glad it was a good reminder for you.

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