Looking up at a gold dome and chandelier
Lens-Artists,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

Gallery: look up, look down

November 19, 2023 / 52 Comments

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open

Dalai Lama

When you first start using a camera, the tendency is to look straight ahead at a scene. We get caught up in what we see right in front of us, what is at eye level. We may look ahead, to the left and right, and even behind us, but many times we forget to look up or down.

But when you really start to take your photography more seriously, hopefully you learn to look up, and down.

By looking up or down, you see more things you might overlook. And you make the ordinary seem less ordinary by showing it from a new perspective. Look up at a building or tree, look down at a leaf on the ground. There are interesting subjects to be found everywhere if we just take the time to look.

Think about the sense of wonder of a small child. They are looking up at their surroundings from a low perspective. And they are closer to the ground and often spot things adults might miss, things that spark their curiosity.

Looking up in particular can make an image more dynamic. It introduces new angles, both literally and figuratively. And it makes the viewer seem smaller in relation to the subject. Meanwhile looking down will have the opposite effect, making the viewer feel like a giant! And it can help you focus on details.

For this week’s Lens Artists challenge James asks us to ‘go for the extremes of Looking Up, and Looking Down, to show the effects of what you can capture at these angles and get a different perspective on our view of the world’. As so often, I’ve selected some examples from my travels. Some you will have seen before but others, I hope, will be new. My feature photo is of a dome in the Grand Mosque in Salalah, Oman.

Note: I know there are a lot of photos here but believe me I did try to show some restraint! I have so many more I could have included. Do feel free to skim!

Looking up

Looking up at skyscrapers and a monument

Columbus Circle, New York City

Looking up at skyscrapers from a close position emphasises their height; here I’ve included the monument at Columbus Circle too, to add some interest and place the buildings in their setting

Ornate gate with flags and a clock

The entrance to Binh Tay Market, HCMC (Saigon), Vietnam

Sometimes you have to look up to get a subject into your frame if it’s impossible to stand far enough back to take a face-on shot, for example in a busy city

Roofs silhouetted against a bright sky

In Patan’s Durbar Square, Nepal

Looking up at a building against a bright sky can create interesting silhouettes

Tower and statue silhouetted against a bright sky

The Juche Tower, Pyongyang, North Korea

Likewise with a monument

A statue's head and arm, holding a torch

Statue of Liberty, New York City

Talking of monuments, looking up at one from a close position will make it seem even more imposing

The Meridian Gate, Forbidden City, Beijing

Get under the eaves of an interesting roof and look up to show the details of the workmanship

Brightly painted roof detail
Large white ferris wheel

Ferris wheel, Seattle, Washington State

Looking up can often create interesting patterns, turning your subject into something a little more abstract

Strings of coloured flags

Prayer flags in Pokhara, Nepal

Placing these flags against the sky ensures that you eliminate the distractions of the surrounding buildings

Looking up at bare branches with birds perched

Cormorants on the Rio Nosara, Costa Rica

Looking up at these cormorants meant taking a risk, as our guide told us that they poop when scared (we made sure not to get directly underneath)!

Looking up at ferns and leaves

Tree ferns in the cloud forest, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Looking up at this tree fern helps to emphasis the delicate pattern of its leaves, seen against the sky

Bridge surrounded by trees seen from below

Hanging bridge, Selvatura, Costa Rica

And finally in this section, seeing this bridge from below places it in its setting and shows how high it is from the ground

Looking down

Looking down at tree tops

View from a hanging bridge, Selvatura, Costa Rica

Let’s start this section where we finished the last, looking down from one of those hanging bridges, again emphasising how high we are above the trees below

Cluster of houses seen from above

A mountain village near Pokhara, Nepal

Looking down at a village from higher up helps to place the houses in the landscape

City housing from the air

Flying over HCMC (Saigon), Vietnam

And looking down on a city from a plane shows more clearly than any shot from ground level the crowding of its buildings

Looking down at a river with boats

View of the Taedong River from the Juche Tower, Pyongyang, North Korea

We saw the Juche Tower from below; now looking down from the tower turns people into miniatures, providing context to their different activities

Muddy water with group of hippos seen from above

Hippos in the Zambezi, near Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, seen from a helicopter

The same is true of animals, they can appear almost like models set into the landscape

Animal footprint in mud

Tiger footprint, Bardia National Park, Nepal

In contrast, from ground level we can spot and capture details; who wouldn’t feel a thrill, looking down from the safety of a jeep at the tracks that speak of a nearby tiger (but no, we didn’t see him)

Woman in bathing costume with a rubber ring, talking on her phone

At Munsu Water Park, Pyongyang, North Korea

Looking down at people can help you capture candid shots, as you’re less visible to your subject

Two boys on a path, one looking up at the camera

School boys in Bandipur, Nepal

Here however one of my subjects has spotted me, just as I pressed the shutter!

Abstract shot of waves and patterns on the sea

From the flight to Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Looking down can, as with looking up, often create interesting patterns and abstracts

Blue lake with islands and a boat

Diablo Lake from the overlook on the North Cascades Highway, Washington State

But you don’t need a plane or helicopter to be able to see a scene from above

Looking down at bookshelves and a person

In Seattle Public Library, Washington State

The upper floor of a building works too, and again we can often find interesting patterns (the slightly odd grassy background is in fact a carpet!)

You might also enjoy

Half-finished relief carving of people in ancient dress

Works in progress around the world

August 6, 2023
River view with modern city buildings

Gallery: city living in London

February 15, 2021
Small concrete bridge over water with several boats

Gallery: getting from A to B

September 9, 2022

52 Comments

Do share your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you!