A blog post by Darkroom 8 Team
Photography is a static graphic art, and photo is a two-dimensional plane instead of a three-dimensional plane. We have to understand the perspective relationship and the theory allows the photographer to be able to judge and choose the composition and creation that he wants to present in photography.
Horizon Line (aka Eye Level Line)
The eye level is the same height as the human eye when observing the scene with the human eye. When you stand on a flat ground, the eye level and the horizon (the horizon is the line where the sky and the earth intersect in the distance) are basically at the same height. If standing high, your eye level will be above the horizon, and if standing low, your eye level will be below the horizon, the eye level will change the position of the horizon in the picture.
Vanishing Point
Vanishing point: Vanishing point is also called direction point. The point on the horizon line where the angular perspective lines of an object visually continue past its edges and eventually converge.
An illustrated in the photo belows:
Objects become smaller and smaller the closer they are to the vanishing point and, at this point, seem to completely disappear (or vanish).
No matter the height (standing/sitting/squatting), and no matter where the position of the object is top, bottom, left, or right, as long as it is looking at the front horizontally and facing the front of the object (such as a wall), the lines will converge at a point, that is, single-point perspective.
A single-point perspective makes the viewer feel as if he were a person in it, which is often used to express the photographer's point of view or emphasize the sense of presence. If the scene contains line elements such as roads or wall corners it can also form as a guiding line that leads the viewers to focus on the subject or bring out a sense of visual direction. Other than One Point Perspective there are Two and Three Point Perspectives as well. Let’s apply our new knowledge in our film photography, keep inspiring and keep learning.