Lessons Learned: Angle exploration

When greeted by a beautiful classic subject like this wooden rowboat, half the fun of photographing it involves exploring the angles. Now this is indeed a traditional (some may say overdone) way to look at a rowboat. We've all seen dozens like it. Nonetheless, this overhead angle does complement the gentle curves of the smoothly bent wood around the gunwales and the artfully applied stain and paint colors.

Predawn light (among my favorites) permits a soft, open presentation of the boat's interior while rendering the dark harbor water beneath in its natural dark brown-green.

Although I chose an angled look for this image by placing the point of the bow in the lower left corner and centering it within the angle, the boat would also have been interesting if centered and straightened vertically to create a symmetrical, perhaps more abstract image.

Thanks to the owner who placed the oars in this casually appropriate position and who left the hand bilge pump in perfect complement. (I cropped out your Starbuck's paper coffee cup behind the rower's seat.)