Wide Angle lenses

There are some photographers that find it very exciting to use extreme wide angle lens, these lenses show us a different perspective on the world and to some people seem exciting.

With the onset of Digital bodies the wide angle lens became a holy grail for some, the problems with the crop factor meant that what was considered a wide angle lens on a 35mm camera was no longer classed the same on a DSLR. The major manufacturers were aware of this issue and all started to work on what would be classed a “Wide Angle” lens again. There now seems to be a raft of “Wide Angle” lenses on the market, these seems to come in many different formats from Prime, Zoom and Fish eye.   All the major manufacturers now have a “Wide Angle” line up;

Nikon’s 10.5mm f2.8 DX ED

Sigma’s  10-20mm f4 EX HSM

Canon’s 10-22mm f3.5 EF USM

Tamron’s 11-18mm f4.5 Di II

What are they used for?

You will find that most truly “Wide Angle” lenses are bought with a specific type of photography in mind.  The majority of these are landscape photographs and panoramic shots.  For a photographer to invest a lot of hard earned cash on some of these new “Wide Angle” lenses then he or she will go to new lengths to get the most from their investment.  These lenses will also be bought for architecture and internal design photography.

If you are looking for a Lens to take portraits with, then I would say that you do not need these very short “Wide Angle” costly lenses.  You can do better with a slightly longer lens that is not going to give you distortion issues and may have a greater Depth of field.

Consider your compositions.

OK, this applies to all images you take, but with a “Wide Angle” lens there are also other areas of the image to consider.  Composition with a “Wide Angle” lens has it Pro’s and Con’s.  You can take some striking images that include a lot of straight lines like tall buildings or straight roads down the centre of the image that work really well to draw the viewer’s eye into the image and give a sense of depth.  But on the opposite side, a straight line near the edge of the image can show some major distortion issues due to these lenses being on the edge of what is technically achievable and almost encroaching on being a fisheye lens.  If you are taking an image where the edge of the image has more areas of random shapes then you will find this is not an issue.

If you are spending what could be a lot of money on one of these very short “Wide Angle” lenses then I am sure you are already accustomed to the principles of photography and it is an area that you enjoy.  But don’t forget the composition rules; consider the “Rule of thirds” as it will be much more obvious in a landscape shot than a shot taken with a medium to long zoom lens.  When you see the image you want to take you should also consider what is on the extreme edges of your view.  You have to remember that a “Wide Angle” lens may also have in its field of view something in the corner of your sight that might spoil the image. These newly designed “Wide Angle” lenses can have a field of view up to 180 degrees. Be aware when you are setting up your kit that you could have this shot ruined with a distracting object that is too far to one side of the photo.

 image

 
When shooting landscapes, try to keep the composition as simple as possible. Dont for get to keep any horizontal line s level.

Use the “Wide Angle” perspective.

When using a “Wide Angle” lens you can really exaggerate the perspective of a shot. You need to see something that is going stand out in the foreground, and moves in to the centre of the image. This pulls the viewer in and creates a wonderful feeling of depth and scale plus it keeps the image interesting.  We have all seen the images of piers on tranquil lakes where the pier pulls your view as it moves out to the middle of the image. You need to have this objective in mind, people will always spend longer looking at an image that makes them feel relaxed and think of a calm surrounding. Putting a strong element in the foreground, and getting very close to it will help this wide angle perspective.

This will work with anything that has a line that pulls peoples’ view to the centre if the image,

Road, Fences, Railroad, Rivers etc.

A “Wide Angle” lens helps you fill the image.

With a “Wide Angle” lens you need to be more aware of alignment, with long straight lines of an architectural photograph you can easily see any slight horizontal mis-alignment. Make sure you either have a level on your tripod, or actively line up the horizontal to make sure you do not give the impression that everything in the image is out of line. Also if you are taking the front of a building then standing perpendicular to the building will help the perspective of the shot, you will not find that one side of the building is moving out at a different angle.

Problems with taking very “Wide” images can be having too much in the shot. Be aware of having a image that is too busy. This will make the image too cluttered; this is something that is very hard to pull off and normally does not work. 

This shot shows how to get it wrong, the peolpe are not good in the shot and pull your eye aay from the maiin reason for the image to be taken. Also becaue it was taken to one side of the path then the straight lines of the walls each sideof the path are not moving away at the same angle. This could have been a good image if for the simple conmpisition rule were applied. The smallest thing can make a shot a winner of a losser that nobody will ever see.