Wide-angle and Telephoto Lenses

All of us shoot with our lenses set at various focal lengths. This month, I am covering the two extremes: wide-angle and telephoto focal lengths. By wide-angle, I mean the 10mm-28mm focal length range. By telephoto, I mean any focal length 70mm or larger (100, 200, 300+). 

I will share my perspectives on three variables: focal length characteristics, uses, and caveats.

Let's start with wide-angle lenses. One of their best characteristics is that they inherently have more depth of field at any given f/stop, as I will demonstrate below. They are great when shooting indoors in tight spaces, like inside a grand cathedral. Depending on the focal length, we can include the ceiling, pews, and the stained-glass windows on the left and right walls. That's pretty awesome! 

However, there are some caveats. The more we tilt our cameras upward, the more those parallel wall lines converge on you! The left and right walls will seem like they're leaning in. Not good. To counteract that, I raise my arms above my head, using my tilting back screen, so I don't have to tilt my camera so much. Of course, with my arms up like that, it's hard to steady my camera. Solution? Increase my ISO, say, from 100 to 400 or 500, to get a faster shutter speed. Voila! 500 ISO is still good enough in today's cameras to minimize "noise." Another great use is when we have a huge natural formation or mountain in front of us, we want to get the whole subject in, but we can't move farther away to get the shot. No problem! Click.

Telephoto lenses.The best characteristic is that, at any f/stop, they have wider apertures. The size of their apertures/openings are larger than other lenses, at any given f/stop setting. What this means is that we can get those nice, blurred backgrounds behind our subject, which makes our subject "pop," or really stand out. They also give us much narrower coverage, which helps us to isolate our subject from the rest of its surroundings. One other great advantage of telephoto lenses is what's called "The illusion of compression." Elements in our scene appear as if they are much closer to each other than they really are, and that makes for some great dramatic images! 

I have one strong caveat regarding telephoto lenses, and this one is extremely critical if you take photographs without a tripod. Remember: While they magnify the size of your subject, which is great, they also magnify any slight movement in your hands! Any slight hand movement will blur your subject. That's the bad news. However, there is a good trick to avoiding that problem, in addition to today's vibration control features. Make sure your shutter speed is equal to or greater than the focal length you have set. For example, if you are shooting with your focal length set at 200mm, make sure you are shooting with a shutter speed equal to or greater than 1/200th of a second.  

Before I show you some examples of how all this looks in real life, let me demonstrate two good scenarios that illustrate two characteristics of these two focal lengths: The visual effects of the size of the aperture/opening and the "illusion of compression."

Below are two side-by-side, identical images, one shot with a wide-angle lens; the other with a telephoto lens. They were both shot at f/16, both shot from the same distance, and the focus point was the same--that foreground tree on the right. The only difference was the choice of focal length. 18mm (small aperture size) v. 200mm (large aperture size). Notice the difference in depth of field.  

As you can see, the image on the left has lots of depth of field when shot with the lens set at 18mm. The image on the right, shot with the lens set at 200mm, has an extremely blurred background, even though the f/stop was at f/16. 

   

Now let's look at how the "illusion of compression" looks in real life. The image on the left reflects how this scene looks to the naked eye, when we stand there and look at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The distant snow-capped mountain is Pikes Peak. As you can see, it is quite a distance away. The image on the right was shot with a telephoto lens. Notice the "illusion of compression!" Pikes Peak, the in-between mountain range, and Garden of the Gods seem much closer to each other than they really are. The result? A more dramatic image. 

         
       

       

Okay, now I am ready to show you some examples of what I have captured through the use of wide-angle and telephoto lenses.

In order to capture downtown Nashville, Tennesse, standing just across the nearby Cumberland River, I had to resort to a 28 mm focal length. The viewer doesn't realize that the 33-story building on the left looks really big in real life. That's the beauty of a wide-angle lens. We can get "the whole thing in."   

                                                                                                 

This image is of a large Catholic Church. Again, when viewers look at an image like this, they don't realize the expanse of this interior. It took a focal length of 10 mm to get what you see here.

I photographed this artist at work for a commercial project. I didn't want just a portrait shot. I wanted to get close to him, but at the same time, capture the environment in which he works. In this case, his studio. I was able to do that with an 18 mm focal length. 

This double arch in Arches National Park is huge! When I got up close to it to clearly see both arches, I realized I needed to grab my wide-angle lens. 17 mm worked just fine for this project.

If we get too close to an animal, bird, or butterfly, we invade their comfort zone. The chances are high that we will spook them, and they will change their position, run away, or fly away. Enter telephoto lenses. We can get our shot by keeping our distance. With telephoto lenses, we don't need to get close to them; we bring them close to us. The next image is evidence of that. I shot this beautiful peacock at a distance, with a 300 mm telephoto. I simply cannot get these shots by moving closer to my subjects.

I also used a 300 mm focal length to get this downtown Denver shot. I was several blocks away from downtown. Notice the "illusion of compression" of those buildings. Those buildings look as if they are touching each other, again, creating a more dramatic image. 

For this far-away heron, I used a 400 mm focal length. I guess you can say that telephoto lenses also give us the illusion of closeness. I was a good 75-100 yards away from it, but it appears as if I was a lot closer. Luckily, it was a nice, clear day. When there is a lot of atmospheric moisture or haze in the air, a strong telephoto lens will record that, diminishing the sharpness of our images. 

So, go out there, pick your subject, and experiment with wide-angle and telephoto lenses. Have fun!

Contact me if you would like a field lesson, a 30-minute ZOOM lesson, or if you have a question.
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