Visit any national park or forest and you'll find many scenic pullouts and vistas. They're situated where they are for a reason: the views are typically quite lovely. At these spots, you'll often find many photographers working just a few feet from the parking area - if not from the parking area itself. There's nothing inherently wrong with this; however, not straying from the viewpoint may not yield the most unique photograph.

If you're willing to walk a bit you might find a much more original scene and/or subject matter just waiting to be noticed. Sometimes just a few hundred feet can make all the difference. Be willing to explore.

An added benefit: you'll quickly lose the crowd. Many people will not only remain at the lot, but also at the same spot where they first planted their tripod.

Oxbow Bend at Grand Teton National Park (below) is a wildly popular location for photographers at sunrise, especially in autumn, and for good reason: it's a spectacular vantage point from which to see Mount Moran. You might be surprised, though, at the number of people who "set up shop" from one small corner of the parking area. I wonder how many have ventured down to the river? How many have actually seen the Oxbow?

If you're willing to climb the hill to the north of that area, you'll be treated to an interesting view. To be fair, this requires some effort and you need to be mindful of wildlife, but there's a reward.

When you've found a spot you like and begin framing the shot, avoid the impulse to stick only with your initial vantage point. Before making the photo, carefully inspect the edges of the frame as well as the relationships between various elements in the composition. Sometimes moving just a few feet to the left or right (or a few inches higher or lower) is all it takes to eliminate distracting elements, shift emphasis, or create a stronger foreground.

Likewise, we can use our legs, in tandem with the legs on our tripods, to adjust the angle of perspective. Too often, the tripod is reflexively extended to match the photographer's standing height eye-level, and it's from there the image is created. Adjusting the height - up or down - might result in a stronger composition.

Maybe you need to crouch, or get even lower. And by going higher, I don't mean you need a drone or to rent a plane and pilot - though these are certainly ways to achieve this. To give yourself a boost you can also do things like climb on a boulder, work from the roof of your vehicle, or simply extend the tripod above your head. With an articulating screen you can position your camera essentially on the ground or above eye level and still see what you're doing.

Shooting from a low angle is an easy way to achieve a different look, and probably the most practical place to begin if you're new to perspective shifting.

Viewers are accustomed to seeing the world from eye-level. Shooting from a lower angle immediately produces a less predictable and more unique perspective. It can emphasize the subject by partially eliminating the background. This point of view can also make subjects appear larger and/or more imposing. If you use a wide-angle lens, foreground elements will be emphasized.

The photo below, made in the Formal Garden at Portsmouth, New Hampshire's Prescott Park, is an example of shooting from near the ground. My camera was on a tripod about five inches from the sidewalk. This vantage point achieved a few things. First, because it was raining and the colors were saturated, I wanted to accentuate the reds of both the brick and blooms. Second, shooting up enabled me to include more of the branches of the stately, specimen crabapple trees. Third, it eliminated the background distraction of two cars that were parked on the other side of the fence. Finally, it's a different way of looking at the garden - a place in which I've done a lot of work.

In this next example, the fence was the main subject but the sunset was a player. Positioning the camera low, at about 18 inches off the ground, I was able to maintain the size of the fence relative to the other elements while including a lot of sky. With a little bit of maneuvering I placed the sun between the rails where I wanted it to appear in the frame.

Moral of the story: slow down. There might be more than a single shot at any given location. Take the time to look around and carefully survey the situation. A small shift in perspective can make a big difference.

Your legs - all five of them (you and your tripod) - are flexible. Use them to your advantage.