How Camera Angle Affects Body Shape

Perspective can make a big difference when photographing any subject, but you especially want to be observant when photographing models. Shooting at different angles can drastically affect the way your subject looks and the impact made by the photo. In this short video, photographer Jay P. Morgan shows how changing camera angles can affect the look and shape of a person’s body:

As you can see, there’s a huge difference between each angle. The extremely low and high angles distort the body the most, yet they add a certain kind of dynamic look that could be useful depending on what your goal is. Morgan also uses two different focal lengths to show how it too can affect the look of your subject and how the perspective changes between each angle.

waist shot

Waist level tend to give the most normal looking perspective

low angle 24mm

Low angles make the legs look longer

high angle 24mm

High angle shots accentuate the head and shoulders

The most non-distorted view seems to be the normal 50mm lens at waist height. This keeps the body in proportion and doesn’t make certain body parts seem larger like the 24mm tends to do.

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