The view from above, or the view from below?

I generally am not much interested in the view from above in urban areas, to the point that I usually don't climb towers, etc. I'm not sure I've ever bothered to take a photograph of the view from on high. I do enjoy places like the roof of the Duomo in Milan, where you get a good close-up look at architectural elements. Otherwise, I just prefer the view--and the sounds and the smells--down at street level. Expansive views in rural areas are nice, but I rarely try to photograph them since I just use my cell-phone camera.

As someone who find the tiny, winding stairwells in so many European sites extraordinarily claustrophobic, I vote for the view from below!

Why should it be either or? I enjoy both and I have favorite photos both from on top of the Eiffel Tower and of the tower itself. The same goes for mountains/valleys. If I want to take photos of mountains I would take them from below, if I want photos of the valleys I would take them from up on the mountain. And, sometimes climbing towers or going up to mountain peaks has nothing to do with views or taking photos, sometimes it's just the experience.

Many years ago I traveled Europe with a much older relative. While I climbed every bell tower and church dome, circumnavigated the top of every walled village, she settled into a cafe on a charming square.

Sometimes we took pictures of each other from our different vantage points. She would often say, “I’ve already climbed my share of these, so I’ll just imagine the view”.

Now I find myself often thinking of her words as I sometimes become the relative enjoying the view from the cafe.

I like heights, but are they always a better photo from up there? No. Two dimensions can flatten out the depth and the middle stuff that can make the climb rewarding. I may limit how many flights if stairs these days but I do love hanging out a window or deck for a bird's eye view. It also often gives a voyeur's view of day to say life in the back blocks off the main streets.

The view in front of me.

I find myself fascinated by drone photos and video - the bird's eye view, so I guess I enjoy the from above photos - also why I love the window seat on the plane - I like looking down at the world below.

Like MariaF said, I've yet to take a good "view of a city from up high" photo. They all seem to look the same from there. No, you climb for the experience.

I've gotten less and less interested in the climbs. My knees are good going up, but are not happy going down. I'd rather go to a cafe, and have a coffee. Or 2.

While I like photos and views taken from below or a nearby hill, I have really enjoyed climbing a few structures to see the detail of the architect’s plan and the laborer’s work. I’ve taken a lot of pictures in and from the places I’ve climbed to understand their perspective.

I like both. My photos from up high are just as fascinating as the ones from below, though the ones I took from the top of the Pyrenees are exceptionally beautiful and far better than ones from in the valley looking up. Photos from skyscrapers, towers and tops of churches at sunset are always stunning. Getting close to stone figures on the roofs of cathedrals like in Milan, Santiago, or the steeple in the Frankfurt Kaiserdom is a plus. That said, getting photos of stained glass and vaulting is fun too. All photos are done with my iPhone.

If I look through the photos I've taken in the past, my favorites seem to be from above. That said, the views from the Duomo in Milan are cool not so much from looking down, but across-- the walkway winds under the flying buttresses, and roof has (at least when I was there-- a sculpture display. One of my other favorite shots is looking out over the Mediterranean from the high coast road north of Barcelona.

I take many views looking up, sometimes to include some architecture or mountain cliff with the weather when we were there. My husband loves to climb structures and has taken interesting views looking out & down. So between the two of us, we like both.

My views are from the bottom up (mobility issues keep me near the ground).

Different vantage points provide different views. Each is good in its own way. Looking up is focused on a specific subject, easy to identify. Views from atop that subject are of a larger geographic area, with many potentially viewable things, probably from quite a distance, and not as easy to see in detail.

Regarding the Matterhorn, the view from a distance, when clouds permit, is stunning. But the few who’ve made the climb, without stairs or a tram, and certainly not an easy stroll up the slope, can appreciate the view from the summit like someone at the base can’t fully appreciate. And for most, it’s probably not about the view.

You could ask a similar question: what’s better, a picture of a something (building, painting, fountain, what-have-you), or a Selfie of you, in front of that something?

And those of us that haven't climbed the Matterhorn can at least enjoy the view in photos: https://goo.gl/maps/9fLj25mdsKrnQ66j9

If there is one view from above that I really, really want a photo of it's the Eiffel Tower from Notre Dame with a Gargoyle in the foreground. Here's hoping I get to do that one day.

If there is one view from above that I really, really want a photo of it's the Eiffel Tower from Notre Dame with a Gargoyle in the foreground.

Allan, I was lucky enough to climb the tower and get that shot and it is worth the effort. I sincerely hope that the tower will some day open again so you, and others, can get that view.

No

(referring to the since-removed post promoting using drones to film sights while traveling)

Thanks for making us think yet again, Allan. I have no opinion but love reading everyone else’s.

Thanks for bringing this thread back, Stan. Allan as usual has thrown us another diverting puzzle-topic. ;-)

I used to look for towers and hills and even mountains to climb so I could see my surroundings. A view from high up is a good way to orient to a new city. I still like high places, but at my age I've sworn off long stair-climbs and look for elevators -- and not even those if it's going to be a mob scene at the top. My wife used to wait for me in the cafe, but now she doesn't do long trips and I'm the one in the cafe. Photo ops are secondary for me, but thinking about it I have to agree that my "panoramic" shots haven't aged as well as some of my shots of buildings or street scenes. That "gargoyle eating the Eiffel Tower" combo is easily found on postcard racks all over Paris.

As for the Matterhorn, I don't think the hardy souls who climb it do it for the view. Maybe it's just "because it's there."

So to me, photographically speaking, it is challenging to get a good shot from above. You need something for perspective in the foreground or large natural features in the background. Otherwise it can become just tiny buildings and a lot of sky with little scale. If it's a gorgeous sunset, then a lot of sky is nice, but again, the framing has to be right. It's tough to capture the scale of high views looking down. Can be done, we've all seen gorgeous pro photos from above, but for most of us we need a some luck (good lighting and angle for the time of day you are there) or it just looks flat. Meanwhile, looking up - it is easy to fill the frame with a large object. A filled frame is often more interesting.

I choose the climb, and I'll do it for as long as my knees will carry me. I have a non-existent sense of direction, and the views from the top help give me an orientation to the areas I'm exploring.

we've all seen gorgeous pro photos from above, but for most of us we
need a some luck (good lighting and angle for the time of day you are
there) or it just looks flat.

Yes, luck and lighting. I wish I could share the photo, I was in Fira at sunset taking a photo of our cruise ship in the caldera when a cat wandered over and sat right in front of me photo bombing the shot. With a bit of patience I ended up with a photo of the cat looking down into the caldera straight at the ship, it added some great perspective to the photo. The timing of the cat added something to the photo that a typical postcard doesn't have and the lighting was perfect, the sun was almost set and it was casting a beautiful purple haze across the water.

Thinking about it, Santorini is probably one of those places where the view is better from above. So many great locations with the blue domes in the foreground with the brilliant water below.

I agree that there’s a place for views from above and below, certainly. I just wanted to mention the great photographer André Kertész (1894-1985; Budapest, Paris, New York, international). His birds’ eye photos, as well as others, are so wonderful and innovative. Well worth becoming familiar with his work, if not already.