8.1: POV

I'm sure it was entirely accidental that I started taking loads of pictures from near-ground-level late last year; it was getting dark, my hands are quite wobbly and my camera was insufficiently able to cope with the noise an high ISO would have generated (although it the truth be told (as it must to prevent others from experiencing the horror) any ISO over 200 on the Finepix S9500 meant a barely-usable picture). With a crappy £2 bargain bin Jessop microtripod then the vastly better Giottos mini Q-pod tucked in the side pocket of my camera bag I was satisfied enough to briefly stop whining about things and just get on with taking low-level pictures of cobbles and things with a satisfyingly low ISO and subsequently tolerable end image. Having a flip-out viewfinder did help a little too.

I don't particularly like being technical or analytical about picture-taking but I'll give it a go. One of the seven articles these picture-taking magazines seem to endlessly repeat mentions getting detail in the foreground which happens all by itself if you're six inches above the ground. It's a rare pavement which lacks lumps and bumps and details at close range. A nice f/11 on wide angle means that whatever it is you're ostensibly filling the frame with elsewhere will be complemented by a mostly-in-focus ground surface which (as is often the case) only requires a light sprinkle of pretty rain to become shinier, reflective and even more interesting.

I think at the time I took most of the pictures I was just thinking that it looked nice. It makes more sense to take a picture of something on the ground from the point of view of something on the ground. The best thing is that whilst the sky (though often fantastically wonderful to behold) is exceedingly far away (unless it's misty and you can reach cloud level by trotting up the hill) the ground is at most a couple of metres away and infinitely easier to reach. Maybe there's a vaguely psychological reason for it in that it reminds us of being a stumpy wee chilldling bumbling along two feet from the floor.

By happy accident my habit of wearing shorts means that a damp ground doesn't mean a soggy patch on the trouser-knee if it's necessary to drop down on one knee to get a better angle. Perhaps it was meant to be this way.