Photographers shopping for a new digital camera are
bombarded with information about the power of modern zoom
lenses. "This camera has eight-times optical zoom and up to
twelve times digital zoom but this camera has twelve times
optical and..." You know the drill.
A powerful telephoto lens is terrific, and essential if you
are shooting lots of sports photography, wildlife
photography, or any photography that requires you to
capture your subject from a distance. But with so much
emphasis on telephoto power, many new photographers could
be forgiven for thinking there is not much value in a good
wide-angle lens.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, if you
take a lot of travel photos, you may find that your
powerful telephoto rarely gets a workout. As a landscape
photographer, I use my wide-angle lens a lot more. I can
tell you right now that even though the wide-angle lens
makes everything smaller, it can create images with massive
impact if you use it well.
So here are my five tips for creative photography with a
wide-angle lens.
Wide-Angle Photography Tip #1. It Really Is A Wide Angle.
When using a larger lens, you narrow your field of view
considerably, so if you focus on a subject in the
foreground you really don't capture much of the background.
On the other hand, with a wide-angle lens you capture a
much wider field of view. Your foreground subject may still
be the focus of the image, but you can make use of the
background to add interest to the picture as well.
As a result, your picture can tell more of a story. Instead
of a photo that says "Here is a shot of my kids" your photo
can say "Here is a shot of my kids at the beach, you can
see what a beautiful day it was and I managed to capture a
sailboat going by as well."
Wide-Angle Photography Tip #2. Depth Of Field. The
wide-angle lens has a much stronger depth of field than a
larger lens. Not only can you make a feature of both
foreground and background, you can keep everything in focus
while you are at it. To achieve the same result with a
larger lens, you may have to close the aperture, which
means slowing the shutter speed, which means using a
tripod...a lot of exta effort. After all that, the depth of
field may still not be as strong as if you had used your
wide-angle lens.
Wide-Angle Photography Tip #3. Perspective. Perspective is
exaggerated by a wide-angle lens, so it makes long objects
seem even longer. If you are shooting a fence-line, a
jetty, railroad tracks, a road...anything that stretches
away into the distance, the wide angle lens can really give
your photo a boost. The result will be a truly
three-dimensional sense of depth. The viewer's eye will
follow the strong lines of the picture so that they feel
they are not just looking at the photo, but into it.
Wide-Angle Photography Tip #4. Powerful foregrounds. The
exaggerated perspective of the wide-angle lens makes
objects at different distances seem much further apart than
they really are. An object in the foreground may seem a
little smaller, but objects in the background can seem
miles further away. As a result, the wide-angle lens is
excellent for adding impact to a foreground subject. You
can stand very close to a person (or a tree, whatever) and
they will appear to tower over the scene in the distance.
This is the opposite of a telephoto lens, which tends to
bring the background into prominence.
Wide-Angle Photography Tip #5. Putting It All Together. All
the above tips are helpful by themselves, but by putting
them all together you have the power to create photos that
really grab the eye of the viewer. There is not enough
space in a short article to outline all the ways you can
use these tips, so I will give you one example that puts
all the strengths of a wide-angle lens to good use.
Imagine an old rustic farmhouse, with a striking cloud
formation behind it. Your telephoto lens might fit in just
the farmhouse, and a standard lens might fit in the house
and the sky.
With a wide angle lens, you could walk down the driveway
and look for some special detail (maybe a rusty old
mailbox) to create a more interesting composition. By
standing quite close to the mailbox, you can give it added
impact while still fitting in the farmhouse and the great
sky in the background. Even better, the strong depth of
field makes it easy to keep everything in focus. The
exaggerated perspective will make the driveway seem longer,
adding a three-dimensional impact to the picture. If you do
it well, the first thing that catches the eye will be the
mailbox, but the driveway will lead the viewer into the
distance, to appreciate all the detail of the background as
well.
So there you have a quick introduction to the creative use
of a wide-angle lens. I hope this little article does more
than just just spark your imagination. Reading about it is
not nearly as exciting as doing it...so grab your camera
and start snapping!
----------------------------------------------------
Aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, wide-angle and
telephoto lenses...all the essentials of good photography
seem simple when they are explained in terms you can
understand. Visit http://www.naturesimage.com.au and check
out Andrew Goodall's ebook "Photography in Plain English"
to discover your own talent for photography. While you are
there, subscribe to the online newsletter for even more
tips...it's free!
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