Don't Be Afraid to Look Stupid

This blog post has a simple enough message: Don't be afraid to look a little silly (and possibly crazy) when trying to get a good shot.  I guarantee many great photos you have seen were not taken by someone standing straight up and holding the camera out in typical fashion.  There is a strong possibility that the photographer was lying flat on their back, on their stomach, crouching, twisting, reaching, or climbing when they took the photo.

I'm not trying to say that you can't take a good photograph in a normal position, but many times you can achieve a much more interesting angle using strange body positions.  You might look a little odd to passersby, but who really cares?  If you get the awesome shot you were seeking, it's worth it to appear a tad eccentric.

Here are a couple examples of my own work that I took in rather odd positions.  Most of these involved sitting, kneeling, or laying down.

I know for a fact that I was sitting in dirt for this shot.  Hopefully, not in white shorts.

I chased this squirrel 50 yards across a construction zone for this picture.  Talk about difficult...  I think he knows what a camera is and was trying to hide from the paparazzi.  He's the only black squirrel I've ever seen on campus, and people are always whipping out cameras to take pics of him.

I got the strangest look from a guy who was walking by as I took this photo.  He was probably wondering why I had my camera in an ashtray.

Once again, I encourage you to get creative with your body positions as well as your angles.  I think you'll find that you get more interesting shots that way.  However, I do want to make something clear.  I believe that you should not be afraid to LOOK stupid, not that you should go out and DO something stupid.  Standing perilously close to a cliff edge or a dangerous wild animal may not be worth the spectacular shot if you sustain serious bodily injury.  If you're willing to take the risk, that's great, but don't blame me if something goes terribly wrong!

To finish out this post, I want to share a few pictures I found of photographers on Flickr.  None of these pictures are mine, but I thought they would illustrate my main point quite nicely.  Take a leaf out of these people's books:

Depending on whether or not this guy can swim, this might an example of a risky photography position.

Clearly, this woman is not afraid to look insane.

Nice flexiblity.  She clearly stretches before a photo shoot...