Right Angle

Right Time, Right Place, Looking The Right Way

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Can you figure out what this photograph (above) shows? If you're not certain, let me repeat what I say when I get asked for the single most important piece of advice for budding photographers. Without exception, my advice is always to look around for the best shot, because it invariably comes from an angle or a viewpoint that you would least expect.

Now look at the second photograph (below). It shows a sunset, captured from the top of a hill here in Melbourne. Following my own rule, I checked to see if there was a good shot at a different point of the compass - and then I saw the same stunning sunset reflected in the windscreen of my own car. The first shot is simply that - the sunset reflected at the unusual angle of the windscreen.

It was just a lucky shot, I guess, because my car was parked in a random spot. But if you want another great example of why you should always look around you when you're shooting a really arresting scene, just go to Blue Riband.