Use Your Camera Like a Spaceship with Rick Sammon

Words and Photos by Rick Sammon, A Platypod Pro
Edited by Eryka Bagwell

"Do you want all of your photographs to look the same? Photographing everything at eye level is one technique for achieving that goal. Can you say BORRRING?!"

"Me? I do not want all my photographs to look the same, so I follow the philosophy (one of my Sammonisms): Use your camera like a spaceship. That is, photograph a subject at different heights and at different angles."

Check out this example.

"Here’s an iPhone 14 Pro/1x lens snapshot of a beautiful fern garden at a local arboretum. Nothing special or eye-catching about the photo."

"Compare this boring, eye-level photo to the dramatic iPhone 14 Pro photograph that opens this post. That photo was taken with the following gear:"

"iPhone 14 pro, Reeflex fisheye lens, Reeflex camera case (which is needed to use the screw-on lens), Platypod Extreme and Platypod Grip."

"Here’s a straight-down, behind-the-scene shot of my gear, nestled in a small opening among some ferns. As you can see, my phone is VERY close to the forest floor – which was the key to getting the dramatic and unique photograph."

"Because I did not want to be pictured in the frame (extremely wide view with the fisheye lens) I used the Reeflex app’s 10-second self-timer to release the shutter, and then darted away."

"So my friends, have fun using your camera like a spaceship, and have fun with all your Platypod gear."

Platypod pro Rick Sammon has authored 43 books and has 47 classes, including Sammonisms, on KelbyOne. See all of Rick’s classes (iPhone, mirrorless and digital SLR) on this page: https://ricksammon.com/on-line-classes

This is a new one for us! Have you come up with a cool way to use Platypod Gear? Let us know, reach out to either Service@platypod.com and/or Social@platypod.com.

Visit with Rick at www.ricksammon.com.

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We want to hear from you, our community! If you have a final image, behind-the-scenes (BTS with your Platypod gear) and a URL (to view more of your work) that you’d like to share with us, you may have a chance to be featured on one (or all) of the platforms below! We love sharing new artists and their unique ways they use our gear on our blog, social media and monthly newsletter, please contact us via service@platypod.com and/or social@platypod.com.