In the photographer’s blog you will find several posts that will help you understand what it is and how to get the most out of the focal length of your lenses, but little has been said about how to use them more artistically and not so much in their technical aspects.
The lens you use to take your photos will have a significant impact not only on perspective, but also on the messages and feelings they convey to the viewer Why approach the subject if with my telephoto lens I can represent it from afar?use a wide angle if I don’t want to photograph landscapes?
- In today’s article we will answer these and other questions so that you can use the focal length of the lenses as one more element when composing your photographs.
Before we start talking about how to use focal length when composing your photographs, you must first define what focal length is, but as today’s article will try to “avoid all the technicalities that this topic is generally dealt with. ” I recommend that, to get a good idea of the focal length, you read the following articles:
Accuracy: should not confuse focal length and focus distance: while the first refers to the?of your lens, the second refers to the path your lens can focus on, that is, it becomes sharp, and where it won’t. The focus distance will depend on the focal length of your lens.
In photography, perspective is called the ability to recreate the depth and relative position of each of the elements of a certain scene in a photo.
Perspective simulates depth. It is a visual illusion perceived by the observer that allows, when observing a photograph, to determine the distances that separate the different objects and subjects in them, that is, allows the observer to perceive the depth of the elements it contains.
Note that a photograph attempts to recreate a three-dimensional scene (height, width, and depth) in a two-dimensional image (height and width). Effectively capturing the remaining dimension is impossible for photography because it lacks a third shot, but it is possible to convey the sense of depth by working with the different elements of the scene.
This is where the focal length you’ll use to take a certain shot becomes critical: depending on the focal length you use, you’ll be able to convey more or less the depth of a scene. Is it much easier to convey a depth impression using a wide-angle lens, which thanks to its viewing angle allows you to capture?much more part of the scene?than if you use a telephoto lens where the viewing angle is so small that all the (deep) planes seem to pile up.
The focal length you’re going to use to take your photos can not only change perspective, but also change its meaning. That’s why it’s extremely important not to stop paying attention to this environment as it will not only affect the visual quality of your photos, but also the messages and feelings they convey.
Once you have defined the focal length and perspective that you will use to take your next photos, you will have already established 2 of the 4 settings to consider before taking a photo, the other two are: depth of field and framing.
As Mario explained in “Depth of Field: Explanatory Table”, it is the area of the image that is sharp or well in focus, unlike other areas that are less in focus.
To achieve greater depth of field (sharper) you must use small apertures (f/16, f/22, etc. ) and on the contrary, if you want a smaller depth of field (more blur), you need to use more diaphragms. (f/ 1. 8, f/2. 8, etc. ).
I recommend that you check out the following article so you can master everything related to depth of field, sharpness and blur: “24 ways to take sharp photos in your photos”.
Although it seems that framing is the last adjustment you will make before pressing the shutter button and taking the photo, since you will surely be framing once a correct measurement and exposure has been made and after adjusting each of the shooting settings, it is actually the first.
Why am I saying this? Because when you’re about to take a picture, even if you don’t realize it, the final photo is already circling in your head. You know what you want to achieve, you just need to adjust all the necessary settings so that you can capture the photo your eyes have taken, in a photo that your camera can take.
When it comes time to frame the shot, you should be very clear about what would happen to it if you used a short focal length, i. e. more angular or a longer less angular. So you can get an idea of the differences between wearing an angular lens and a telephoto lens, here’s a diagram where Mario enjoys a day on the beach, while depicting him using different focal lengths:
I’m sure you’ve noticed that as the focal length increases and Mario maintains the same proportion in the frame (this is achieved by moving away from the subject as you increase the focal length), the background approaches the subject, that is, the planes come together losing their perspective. In the first diagram, when using an angular lens, the feeling of space (wider perspective) is much better appreciated than in the last one, where the distance between Mario and the background seems almost zero.
Dial on dial
One of the basic rules of composition in photography is: fill the frame. This “rule”, as explained by Caro in the article “9 tips and tricks to improve your photographic composition”, invites you to occupy the most space in the frame with your protagonist, eliminating everything that may annoy or distract the viewer’s attention to browse your photos. This may seem like a pretty obvious rule from a theoretical point of view, although in practice it is not always that easy to do.
The framing refers to how you will arrange the elements of your photograph, whether they are subjects, objects or the space itself that you want to use as protagonists or as secondary elements, to give it character and strength. In the article “16 ways to give prominence to your subjects”, you must be able to draw attention in each of your photographs to the elements with which you want to tell your stories clearly and concisely.
Make sure your protagonist is the center of attention in your photos
Now that you know what focal length, perspective, depth of field are and how they relate to when composing and framing your photographs, let’s see how you can use these factors as an additional element when composing your photographs.
Short Focals – Angular
Contrary to what seems to be a rule in the world of photography, is not the usefulness of an angle or wide angle lens to put much of the scene? in a single photo, but by capturing a greater part thanks to its angle of vision, it allows to better work on perspective, that is, the sensation of depth.
This is, contrary to what many think, its main feature: allowing it to convey a greater impression of depth.
Angular lenses were not designed solely for landscape photography, there are countless situations in which perspective is the protagonist and the best way to represent it is with an angular lens.
In the photo above, if it had been taken with a normal lens or worse still, with a telephoto lens, the feeling of depth, the distance between the different elements, would have been lost when taking a great photo, a simple photo.
By using a short focal length and at the same time completing the frame of your protagonist, you will not only be able to highlight your protagonist, but also locate and give him context.
Remember, more important than what the photographs show, that’s what they convey.
Long focal lengths: telephoto lenses
Unlike short focal lengths, if you use a long focal length, that is, a telephoto lens or a zoom lens, that sense of spatiality or perspective will disappear.
Using long focal lengths will compress all shots in a photo, lose perspective, but at the same time make it much easier to isolate your protagonist. Because? Long focal length lenses (telephoto lenses) when focused on the subject or object, tend to blur the rest of the shots in the photo due to the shallow depth of field compared to an angular lens. Pay attention: look at how in the following photos the feeling of depth seems to disappear but it is much faster and easier to find the protagonist. The gaze always turns to focused subjects or objects.
While it is important to know how the lenses you wear work, what they were designed for, and in what situations you will get the best results, the most important thing is and always will be the photos you take with them. a way to express yourself.
Knowing how it works and how different focal lengths can help you improve your posts will be essential if you want to stop taking good photos in order to start taking good photos. The key? Take, take and take pictures. What are you waiting for?