Skatedog

A dog running level with a skater, seen from the height of the wheels. The camera position is the idea, because it puts the viewer down in the road.

Two things moving at the same speed in the same direction read as a pair, and that is what makes the shot warm as well as fast.

The lens sits a few inches off the tarmac, so the road fills the lower half of the frame and streaks past. Wheels, paws and ground take up more of the picture than the faces do.

The camera matches the speed of the subject, which holds the pair sharp while everything else smears. A wide lens exaggerates the rush at the edges of frame.

Flat bright daylight suits it, because a short exposure holds the dog sharp while the ground still blurs.

Use it for a street piece, a pet brand, a shoe or a board, and anything where momentum is the message.

Avoid it when faces have to read. At this height you get legs, paws and a chin.

Ground Level is the camera angle on its own. The lens rests on the floor and the floor plane runs across the bottom of the frame, and nothing has to move.

Skatedog is that angle plus matched travel and a running animal. A still frame from the floor is the angle. A tracking one with a dog beside the board is this.

The camera drifts up to a normal height and the speed disappears with it. Say the camera rests at street level and stays there.

The second failure is a slow dog. Ask for the ground streaking past and both subjects matched in speed, or the shot reads as a walk.