The challenges of using wide angle lens
Five years ago, I went to Samy’s Camera on Fairfax in Los Angeles and forked out a whopping $200 bucks for a used Nikkor 24mm 2.8 lens. It’s the least expensive lens I own, it’s the smallest and most unattractive lens I own, it’s used and a bit battered and it’s definitely not an AF lens. But it’s the lens I use most often! I love the effect that a wide angle gives my photographs. But it is tricky to get the shot without some distortion, so let’s talk about that for a minute. With a foreground-to-background approach, you can produce a dynamic three-dimensional effect that gives your photographs a real sense of enviroment. This is a huge reason I favor wide angle lens. They allow more information in the area being photographed so you can create a story within your photo. You can see more detail of where the model is standing or sitting, you see backgrounds, foregrounds, etc. This creates mood, thus creating a more dynamic shoot.
One of the challenges that photographers face is the wide-ranging perspective. The tendency is to back up to get more into the picture, which commonly leads to either a “busy” look or to vast empty spaces. So you can’t back up too far or your model gets “lost” in the environment. And then what happens if you get too close? That’s right……you can get some unflattering distortion. The body part closest to the lens starts appearing very large. So if your model is reaching her hand out toward the camera and it’s closest to the lens, their hand is going to appear mammoth and surreal. Does it look cool? Well, that’s the thing: you can break the rules in fashion photography. That’s why I became one! I hate rules. And I hate tech talk. In fact, one of the reasons I started this blog was to give budding fashion photographers some breathing room from those tight ass tech freaks and teach you guys that if the shot looks killer, go with it! The judge should be your EYE! Okay. That’s enough ranting. Back to wide angle.
YES! Look at the shot, see if it works, if it doesn’t move back, have the model stop reaching toward the camera and choose a different approach. I like to get down on the ground and shoot up on a girl, with my 24mm lens. Is that technically “right”. Who cares! Does it look hot? And in shooting music, in other words, shooting bands and rocks stars, you can break the rules even more. Because music is a medium that makes you feel, you can distort and flare the lens and tell them to all jump up and scream and just have an amazing shot!
Here’s something to think about: if you look at a lot of fashion photography you will see that a large percentage of photographs are shot low and angled up on the model. This gives her height. While no photographer can really make their model taller, shooting low and aiming up on her gives the illusion of height. A good safe bet is just shoot below your models shoulders. I like to shoot lower, but that’s my personal preference. The reason why models are tall and thin is that clothes “hang” better on a tall thin figures. So an angle that helps boost the height is always a good “look”. When you shoot with a wide angle lens, it adds a nice dimension to the photograph, adding drama and impact.
(shot using a wide angle lens and spherize distortion effect in photoshop) Band: Heavy Mojo
Personally, I wouldn’t shoot with anything wider than a 24mm lens. Otherwise you can really get into some weird distortion that looks “fish eye”. I actually wanted that effect in the shot above, so I distorted it even more in photoshop throwing a Filter > Distort > Spherize filter on it. Be aware of the background and foreground in your shots because you’re picking up detail there, so make sure it’s of interest to the photograph. And just experiment. Again, just look at your photographs. Do the shots look great? Let your eye be your judge.
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Hi Melissa,
Great article, love the way you go and handle your shots and perspectif
rules are ment to be broken, the world would be a boring place otherwise.
cheers
Kef
Thanks for the article Melissa. Shooting environmental portrait with wide lens is definitely my favorite. Who said 85mm is portrait lens? I like to go wide!
Cheers,
Ed
Thanks for the great article. Not a big fan of using wide yet, but inspired to give things a try.
Ok, so I tried to email you this message but it said that your mailbox was full so I will just post it here and maybe you can respond to me through email. Anyway, here goes:
Hi, Ms. Rodwell, first and foremost, I would like to tell you that I really enjoy your work and that I am truly a fan. I also visit your blog daily, it lots of great information that I think about now everytime I go out to shoot. Your work is truly inspiring to me. My name is Marcus Smith, and currently I am a student at Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, MA. It is an intense 10-month program where we are taught about all areas of photography. We cover Portrait, Commercial, Photo Journalism, Advertising, and Fashion. Also, 40% of the curriculum is business courses focusing directly on the photography industry. With that being said, I still understand how important it is to pay dues, and that you can only truly become a master at something by supplementing education with real world experience.
In school, we were given an assignment to be completed by May. 2009. The assignment is to assist or shadow 2 working professional photographers for a day. Despite my assignment only requiring 2 photographers, my goal is to have assisted or shadowed at least ten photographers which is why I’m starting so early. I would be willing to sweep floors, run errands, carry bags, or even just observe, anything to be in the environment. I’m really passionate about photography and I’m eager to learn from whomever I can. I know that at least one day with you would be an amazing experience for me, and hopefully it could turn into lasting relationship in the future.
If you would like to see some of my current images, please visit my website at http://marcussmithphoto.com . I really look forward to hearing back from you, and thanks so much for your time.
Hi Marcus, I will send you an email! Luhura…I feel ya’….I wasn’t into using wide angle lens for a really long time. But I’m happy to hear your inspired to give things a try! And Amen to Eddie and Kefje! Break the rules and question authority! Ha!
Loved your rant! I couldn’t agree more!
My Darling Dearest,
I LOVE your blog. This is so informative, and I am not a photographer, although I love to style my own shoot for my products, and always have a hand in the design aspect of my business. You are totally making me want to just be a photographer, but, alas, I am way too good at other things. I need a hobby like I need a kick in the arse.
Keep up the good work. This is fascinating. Kate Moss has always been fabulous as well.
xoxoxo
J
Cool pictures..!! And nice article. I agree with everyone, your articles inspire me. By the way, I’m just starting in the photography, I love fashion, but I’ve seen that there are too many rules!!! Such as: don’t use wide-angles unless it’s necessary because the body gets distorted, the pose has to be neat, blah blah.. lol..
I agree, rules are meant to be broken!!! Just let me learn a little (with little I mean a lot) more about photography and I’ll be ready to show the world that wide-angle lenses are great for fashion. =D
Take care!!!
Your blog was a fortuitous find! A fashion photographer actually willing to share their expertise with the whole world – a rare thing! Thank you!
You are welcome! I’m glad you found the blog!
killer article and images. Wide angel is something i’ve done for awhile and YES YES YES it makes some cool effects. Seems that music artist really love those type shots. not sure why but they do…I have seen several photographer who shoot portraits with wide angel and it looks great. Since this is not a lens of choice for that… but slow lil me i never book marked there shot. if i find a link i’ll post it.
i found it… check out his portrait section… wide angle shots are killer….
http://www.platonphoto.com/
Wow….I love this guys work! Thanks for sharing this link! It’s amazing that he shot all these politicians with a wide angle lens. That’s definitely rare but it has made for some great portraiture. Awesome!
When you talk about the hand being too close and surreal looking when using a wide angle lens and breaking the rules, it reminds me of a photo of a famous boxer (I cant remember who). It was black and white and the boxer was sitting down with his hand resting on a cane with a skull ring on. The hand look huge, but it was great because it emphasized the fact that he was a boxer.
Thanks for the blog and demystifying the fashion world for us.
Greg
I think you can try go even wider. I’m using Tokina 12-24 on occasion to get this exaggregated perspective. I prefer using right-angle finder to set myself into comfier positions.
Check how do you like these:
http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pic_id=48d6c2da52aa4&date=2008-09-21%2017:55:40&id=786287&pid=8497124
http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pic_id=48c47c9e51259&date=2008-09-07%2021:15:16&id=786287&pid=8305603
I sometimes use a 12-24 Tokina. You’ve really got to watch where you put a person’s head or other body parts closest to the lens when you’re at the wide end or you get a funhouse mirror shot. Anything up close will appear enlarged, but everything gets stretched at the sides of the frame. Used right, it can be interesting. Used wrong, and it’s not flattering at all.
I REALLY LIKE THE EFFECT OF THIS WIDE ANGLE LENS VERY COOL EFECTS….THANKS FOR SHARING THIS : )
M~
I’w got a fav Nikon 50mm from the “trascann” for 10£. I love it. However it’s not AF, It still one of the best Nikon glas.
Well, not a wide angle, not indeed. I use a D300, so it’s not just not wide angle, but it became a small zoom lens.
I was about to use it for my session in this week – but you kicked me on the arse and I gona give a shot for my 10-20 lens, just to see how it’s do the job.
Sound call! I’m amazed how inspirating you blog is.
Thax for that!
Hi Melissa
All you’ve said is true but as with everything, it’s horses for courses. I use every extreme of all my lenses and seem to need the lot. I find it difficult to get an ‘editorial’ feel with wide angle unless the lighting is low and muted. For me it was Bill Brandt that started the ball rolling with his famous shot of Francis Bacon so there’s nothing recent about it.
Also they can be a technical boon:
Is the bit I want in focus? Of course it is, everything’s in focus.
Do I need a tripod? Probably not.
It’s one great piece of kit amongst many.
Thanks for the “Breathing room”!! I also loved the 24mm but I’ve been reducing its used because of my fear of distortions. Its great to see your usage of it!
Great post! I have been curious about this topic for a little bit
looks like it is time for me to buy a new lens…and nice on the “rules are meant to be broken bit.” Someone wise once said that in photography, you need to learn all the rules, and then throw them out
One quick question for clarity… are you using the 24mm on a full frame DSLR (e.g., D3 or D700), or an one with a cropping factor, which would make it effectively a 35mm? Thanks in advance.
LOVE your blog, so much useful info here.
Hey Melissa!!
can you give details on the light setup for the pic of the two models in the car??
btw… amazing blog and beautiful photos!! keep it up the good vibes!!
I love the 24. I got a 1.4 about a year ago, and using shallow depth-of-field with a wide lens is a cool look… your site is great!
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I was just reading one of your other posts and in it, I was commenting about my love of my older 15mm f/3.5 AiS mount Nikon lens. I also have a roughed up 18mm f/4.0 that is fun to play with too. I only throw them on my D700 or on on of my Film SLRs. Both are Rectalinear and do not distort straight lines or people at all. The only quirk with going that wide is the short focus throw until you are at infinity. But, of course, given the optics, if you stop down enough, almost everything will appear to be in focus.
Another avenue to look into if you want to go really wide and have a good machinist or tech person to help you out would be to try to pick up some older motion picture wide angle lenses. Yes, they can and will often weight more than your pro DLSR body but they will have fantastic image quality.
I’ve never given this a try, but I think it’s about time I do.
this is a really inspiring blog, very helpful and motivating,
can i ask what camera you use? canon or nikon? coz i dont know what to buy, i would like to start with canon 50d or nikon d90,
ive used a nikon camera (film) before in my photography class and i love using that wide angle lens,then i bought a second hand canon 350d, but i sold it and now im able to save and start over with a new dslr and my budget for my glass is 900-1200, i know this question is way too far from the topic of this blog but this is a good place to ask advise,
Thanks!
Hey, great information, it is always nice to find a site that gives me what I am looking for
Wow I think thats actually not a bad price for the lens at least to me. Pictures came out pretty well in the end. And to the above poster he is using a Nikkor lens he uses a Nikon camera. Go Nikon and dont look back.
Hi Melissa
First off.. I love your posts.. I’m really keen on trying myself out in the world of fashion photography. I kinda work in the fashion buisness and as I just bought a DSLR, flash and the whole lot, it seems like the natural way to go. I dislike photographing the natural way and I’ve been in some heated discussions already with boring studio photographers. You know.. The ones that does passport photos and so on.. And the only reason they photograph girls, is.. well to be honest.. they really don’t get to see girls like that, by inviting them out.
But.. I love your blog, and the fact that you couldn’t care less about what someone once said was the right way to do it. Nothing is set in stone and the only way to get truly stunning pictures, is by being creative and don’t let yourself be locked down by “rules”
I discovered your site today, so congratulations to you, because you’ve just got another fan
Hey, I’m a tight ass tech freak! Well not as tight as it was when I was like 20, but you know.
But really, for me photography is the perfect blend of the artistic and technical sides of my brain. But, you’ve inspired me, and I’ve ordered the 24mm 2.8 Ai-S lens that you use and I’m going to play around with it and see what happens. I do like your point about showing more depth in the photographs. Having been used to the whole big aperture long lens compression thing for awhile, some depth in my pictures could be a nice change. Thanks for the tips!
wow, that sings like a lot of tight ass tech freaks over here in the UK, i was becoming one by listening to them, that hand looks wrong her foot could be 15 degrees to the left??, ive left that stuffy organisation behind, who looks at a photo to pick up its tech faults without actually looking at the image itself…..grhhhh it make me mad!….. rant over.