Shooting

A common composing bugaboo for new photographers? With shorter subjects, the tendency is to shoot from above, looking down on them. Among other problems, this higher-than-thou shooting angle introduces unnatural perspective distortion. And the wider the focal length of your lens, the weirder the distortion.For children, this can result in large heads and relatively tiny feet. When pets are photographed from above, their bodies become as important as their eyes—not good for capturing their personality.

These days, it seems that out-of-the-way places have become so common in advertising and mass media that many are losing their exotic edge. So if you find yourself in, say, Antarctica, how do you bring back photos that are special? Colorado-based pro Pete McBride found himself faced with such a challenge, and overcame it with the help of ocean rowing adventurer Olly Hicks, whose legs you see here.

Ancient ruins take on a ghostly, otherworldly look in the photographs of Arthur Drooker, who used infrared capture for the images in his just-published book, Lost Worlds: Ruins of the Americas. Here's what he has to say about his technique and travels:How did you take up photographing ruins?