Wide angle in photography. Tasks for lesson No7 "Choosing a lens

Based on our experience, we have compiled basic tips and tricks for shooting wide-angle lenses that will make your photos more interesting and recognizable both in composition and content. By the way, such lenses are installed in all smartphones, which means that these tips will be useful to all fans of mobile photography.

Landscape, architecture, narrow spaces and streets of old towns, travel, street photography and even portrait photography. Wide-angle can be used in any genre and direction. However, shirik photography can be both a nightmare and a pleasure, depending on how you learn to apply the tips and tricks below correctly.

What is a wide angle lens

First of all, in photography, there is no clear reference relationship between lens category and focal length. There are certain conventional boundaries that each photographer can in some way "adjust" for himself personally. If we take the notorious Ken Rockwell, then he distinguishes for himself as many as three categories only for wide-angle lenses:

In this article, for ease of perception, we propose to simplify everything and dwell on the following: by a wide angle we mean any lens with a focal length less than 24 mm (in full-frame equivalent). When you're in the market for one of these lenses, check out our selection of the best wide-angle for Canon and the selection of the best wide-angle for Nikon. In each article, we select the main applicants in the category of interest to us, analyze their strengths and weaknesses in detail, which ultimately allows us to recommend you a certain model for purchase.

#1. Choose an interesting foreground

The wide-angle is able to place a significant distance in front of you in the photo and so that the viewer is interested in looking at your photo, so that he does not get bored of the huge empty space - he needs to show something in the foreground. This is especially useful for landscape photography.

# 2.Shoot at closest focusing distance

As a rule, "wide" lenses allow you to focus much closer than standard, let alone telephoto lenses. Really close! On average, this is 20-24 cm and this distance is considered not from the front lens, but from the matrix of your camera, i.e. there will be a distance of about 10 cm to the photographed object. It turns out something like a wide-angle macro, and even often with a blurred background.

# 3. Use distortion to your advantage

When framing the shot as you shoot, make sure the distortion inherent in wide-angle lenses works to the advantage of your future photography and your vision. The closer to the edges of the frame and closer to the lens are objects, the more distortion they are subjected to. This will be most striking for human figures.

This does not mean at all that wide-angle portrait is impossible. Quite the contrary, you can get very interesting and effective pictures. If you want to keep the subject's normal proportions, just place the subject in the center of the frame.

#4. Use converging lines

Converging lines are a very powerful and often used compositional technique. Lines make the viewer look to where you want to go and end up at the intended point or at the intended subject of photography, which is the central semantic point of your photograph. Very often this technique can be found in wedding photographs taken indoors or on city streets.

A wide-angle lens further enhances perspective, stretches all the lines, and with a little practice, you can find them just about anywhere. By the way, the lines do not have to be straight, for example, a path, tree trunks, riverbanks or streams are also great.

#five. Change the shooting point

This tip works great for all other lenses as well. Changing the shooting point, you have a chance to show the viewer an unusual point of view, and this is always interesting and makes you stop your gaze. Try taking a few shots of ground level, then raise the camera high over your head, a couple more shots, and then watch the result. Please note that the lines that are present in your frame and which we wrote about a little earlier have lengthened even more.

# 6. Monitor your exposure

Since it gets into the frame large space, in which there can be both dark and light areas, it can be very difficult for the camera to understand what is the main subject of shooting. This part rests entirely with the photographer, who does not have many ways out of this situation.

1. Make an exposure correction, thereby overexposing / underexposing a certain area in the photo and then trying to correct it in the editor.
2. Compose the frame in a different way, excluding the object that is knocked out by the exposure.
3. If a it comes about shooting a landscape, then option 3 appears - it is necessary to use a gradient filter, which will reduce the brightness of the sky in the photo. In this version, you will thank us again, because In our articles, when choosing the best wide-angle (s), we pay attention to lenses whose front lens does not rotate when focusing.
4. Shoot during working hours, right after sunrise or shortly before sunset. In addition to the fact that you will get a beautiful, low-diffused light that will look great in the photo and that everyone loves so much, it will also lead to a decrease in the difference in exposure of the earth and sky.

# 7. Have you ordered sun bunnies?

Wide-angle lenses are quite susceptible to this kind of flare when you shoot against a light source (called backlight). As a result, a sun hare can easily appear on your photo, which will be almost impossible to remove during post-processing.

If you don't want to see hares in your photo, then you need to remove it at the time of shooting and this is quite simple to do. It is necessary to change the shooting angle little by little and it disappears by itself. If there is no light source in the frame, then you can try to cover the lens from it with your free hand. However, remember that this hare-shaped technique can be used to your advantage, it all depends on whether you like this effect and whether it will be appropriate in the photo.

#8. Where is your shadow?

When you photograph with a light source behind you (which is more than half of all your photos), it is very easy to overlook the fact that your own shadow will be present in every photo. Be sure to follow this and change the point of view if necessary.

#nine. Consider depth of field

Another feature of wide-angle lenses is their very large depth of field, i.e. DOF - depth of field. For example, let's take a Nikon or Canon amateur series of cameras (Nikon D3000 +, D5000 +, D7000 + series; Canon 1000D +, 550D +, 70D + series, etc.), put on a wide-angle and set the focal length to 16 mm, aperture at f / 5.6 and let's focus on an object that is 2.5 meters away from us. The depth of field will start from 1.2 meters and go to infinity! If you want to play around with the depth of field yourself, just write the words "depth of field calculator" in the search engine, and it is best to verify this on a real lens.

Friends, in conclusion, I would like to once again draw your attention to the fact that all of the above techniques and tips can both harm and spoil the photo, and can be used to create an atmosphere, spectacular pictures and greater involvement of the viewer. The result of your shooting with a wide angle lens will completely depend on you, your experience and your creative vision.

If you know any useful trick and we forgot to mention it, you want to tell and draw attention to it - be sure to write about it in the comments.

Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend who likes to take pictures? Share these tips using the sharing buttons.

06/02/2017

The text of the article was updated: 10/18/2018

I will not be mistaken if I say that absolutely all visitors to my blog have experience of shooting at wide: smartphones have a lens with an equivalent focal length (EFR) of 25-28 mm. Only now, not everyone gets masterpieces. Today I propose to analyze how to photograph with wide-angle optics so that the UG does not come out.

First, let's deal with the abbreviation "UG" - "dull g..no". When a novice amateur photographer acquires his first shirik, he dumps in tons of such frames on social networks and on specialized photographer forums.

What's so great about this shot? Probably only the line of the fence, leading the viewer's eyes to the SVKTs (plot-important compositional center, if someone has not yet read the textbook of Lydia Dyko "Conversations about photography"). Why do I think that this photo is UG? Someone will say: “Because the building was shot close and there is distortion” (in this case, the lines tend to converge at one point, although in reality they are parallel). Why distortion appears when shooting at wide, if you tilt the lens axis, is discussed in detail and with diagrams in the photo tutorial "Why do I need a full frame" (the link to this article and others that will be mentioned in the course of the conversation can be seen at the very bottom).

But I don't agree that distortion is the main evil here. I load the image into Photoshop, make a duplicate layer, set the guides, in the menu "Edit - Transform - Perspective - Scale". I more or less align the walls of the building. It got better (if I shot it in full face, the result would be a little better). Anyway, UG ...

This means that the reason is different. I think this photo is of poor quality because it contains middle plan (near corner of the building), rear (far corner and bell tower), but no front. If there was any interesting object on the near plane, the viewer would not even pay attention to the distortion.

Want an experiment? I take the original photo with curved walls and make a simple photo collage.

I bet you didn't even immediately notice that I additionally bent the walls of the building in the editor ...

Wide angle lens features

Wide angle optics have two characteristics that differentiate them from other types of lenses. First, shirik stretches the perspective (enhances): objects in the foreground are very large, and objects in the background quickly decrease in size.

Photo 5. The carriages of the train, you can believe me, also have the same height at the front and back, although due to the perspective enhanced by the wide-angle lens, they do not look very realistic. But it is spectacular ... 1/160, -1.67, 8.0, 450, 14.

Secondly, wide angle lens produces a picture that English-speaking photographers describe as "inclusive", that is, "inclusive, interpenetrating". In Russian, I would say, "pulling the viewer inside", or "interactive".

Agree, when you look at these flowers, they seem to stand behind the glass, you can reach them. An extraordinary feeling. Neither a portrait lens nor a telephoto lens will give you such a feeling - this is the "magic" of wide-angle optics.

Common mistakes beginners make when shooting with a wide-angle lens

Experienced photographers recognize four types of imperfections in shots taken by amateurs with wide-angle lenses:

1. There is no object close to the lens.
2. There is no clearly defined WCCC.
3. Attempting to fit too many objects into frames.
4. Distorted faces in portraits.

Let's try to analyze each of these points.

1. The subject is far from the camera lens

In my opinion, the first mistake is the reason for 90% of weak images and it is closely intertwined with the next two.

Most of the best shots shot with a wide-angle lens are taken from less than a meter (for large objects) and even a few centimeters (for small objects). For example, I photographed flowers in photo # 6 from about 10 cm.

To get interesting shots, we must have a greater depth of the image (in other words, enhance the perspective), that is, we must approach the subject as close as possible.

Let's make an experiment. Let's take a photo with a street sculpture on a full frame Nikon D610 with a Nikon 24-70 mm f / 2.8 reportage zoom at the wide end of the FR \u003d 24 mm. First, I approach a very short distance: literally half a meter.

It seems to me that the car will now jump from the screen to the computer! I move a little further, literally 50-70 centimeters and ... the magic is lost.

Well, if you move away a couple of meters, then our object is completely lost in the picture. The charm disappears completely.

I think that in the example above, the paving circle is more or less the foreground. If it were not there, the perception of the image would have weakened even more.

But for those who hate shiriks, I will give an example of the same scene, but shot at a long focal length.

Note the size of the windows in the background in the wide-angle and telephoto shots. It is now clear why, when photographing against the background of a mountain or a monument, it is better to ask the model to move away from him and use a lens with a long focal length to shoot?

In an article with a story about why I need a shirik and why a telephoto lens, I paid attention: if you shoot a frame on a Canon 70-200 mm f / 2.8 at FR \u003d 200 mm and FR \u003d 180 mm, then the focal change will be only 10% and, most likely will not be noticeable to the viewer. And in the photo taken on a Canon 16-35 mm f / 2.8 at FR \u003d 35 mm, and then at FR \u003d 16 mm, despite the fact that the focal length changed by only 19 mm, the relative change was 219%.

The same story with a change in the distance to the subject: we shoot with a telephoto lens - after taking a step away, we practically won't get any changes in the transmission of perspective, wide - there is a significant leap ...

Do not forget that there are wide-angle lenses (FR \u003d 24-35 mm for a full frame, and FR \u003d 15-22 mm for CROP), and there are ultra-wide-angle lenses (FR \u003d 14-24 mm for FX, and FR \u003d 10-14 mm for DX) - they are many times more sensitive to errors made by the photographer when framing.

The situation as in photos # 12 and # 13 is described by professionals as "the location of the elements of the composition at the same distance from the lens and, as a result, the loss of the CWCC".

Well, maybe I didn't pick up very well here good exampleas the car in the background is 30 meters away. If she stood 5 meters from the bear, then both subjects would merge and it would seem that they are located almost in the same plane ...

How it works? Read the photo tutorial on the differences between crop and full-frame - there are schemes and formulas (the link is placed at the end of this article).

I'll tell you briefly here. If in photo # 11 the distance to the bear is 1 m, and to exactly the same bear in the background is 5 m, then the difference in the change in their linear dimensions of the image in the picture is Δ \u003d ((5/1) * 100% -100% ) \u003d 400%. When the photographer moves 2.5 m away from the first bear, then Δ \u003d ((5 + 2.5 / (1 + 2.5) * 100% -100%) \u003d 114% ...

In practice, this means that in the first case, the perspective is very pronounced: the bear in the foreground will look 4 times larger in the picture than a sculpture of the same size, at a distance of 5 m. In the second situation, such bears will be different in the picture. in size from each other only 1.14 times.

This means that such a trick as moving away, taking a wide photo, and then cutting out the object will not work without losing the magic of the wide frame. Indeed, in this case, the perspective will be less pronounced.

For comparison of perception: let's say we would shoot the same scenes with a telephoto lens from a distance of first 20 and then 22.5 meters. Then the change in the size of the bears would be in the first case Δ \u003d ((25/20) * 100% -100%)) \u003d 25%, and in the second ((27.5 / 22.5) * 100% -100%) \u003d 22.2%. Firstly, the sizes of both sculptures in telephoto shots differ from each other significantly less than when using shirik (compare 25% and 400%), i.e. perspective is less pronounced. Secondly, changing the distance to the subject also does not lead to dramatic differences: 25% / 22.2% \u003d 1.13 versus 400% / 114% \u003d 3.51 ...

So once again: if you want beautiful wide-angle shots, come closer to enhance the perspective, that is, the difference in size between the foreground and background. Here's another practical example... I approached the sculpture by 30cm.

Everything seems to be fine, the picture is addictive. And what will happen if the distance is reduced by 15 cm?

Note that the examples here are not ideal in terms of composition. I, too, study and rarely can shoot my masterpiece wide. In particular, in this example and in the frame with bears, the bottom is ugly cut off. In the photo report, I would probably leave the previous image so that the slab on the ground would completely enter the frame. Well, there are also paired shots to demonstrate the postulate: it is better to photograph from a short distance with wide-angle optics.

2. There is no clearly defined subject in the frame when shooting with a wide-angle lens

The requirement to have an SVKTs in the frame, which draws the viewer's attention, is interconnected with the previous point: if you move a little further, the viewer is “lost”.

Dear reader, excuse me if my tone is somewhat instructive. I repeat once again, I also do not know how to shoot with shirikami, I'm just learning. And on the blog I post my "lecture notes". I know that it often happens that this WCCC is difficult to find and designate, that sometimes there is no way to approach, etc.

To bring such a shot to life, it is vital to find something that will catch the viewer's eye: a stone, an inscription, a crack in the foreground.

Do you think why I travel to distant countries with my wife? I need it to bring the “human element” into the composition.

My theory here is this: in these shots, the main object is not a person, but his environment, and it, as it should be, is located close to the photographer.

3. Trying to place too much on the picture

Shirik has a very wide viewing angle. This helps when we want to show, for example, the habitat of our object. But this also interferes with building the composition, since there may be too many secondary details in the picture that distract from the main thing. There is only one piece of advice: be careful when choosing a frame border.

4. Shooting portraits with a wide-angle photo lens

Surely, you have met strict recommendations many times: they do not shoot portraits of people wide open, as the proportions of the face and body are greatly distorted.

The first frame was photographed from a distance of 15 cm, the second - from 30 cm.

I would make a clarification here. When a girl, a model, writes to you: "Dear photographer, please take a portfolio for me", it is probably better to take a Canon 50mm f / 1.4 or Canon 85mm f / 1.4 portrait lens. And if you walk down the street and shoot street photography, you can get very interesting shots with a wide-angle lens with the effect of engaging the viewer.

Conclusion

Let's summarize. Without a wide-angle lens, it is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to film a professional wedding, birthday, party and travel report. If only because you need a setup frame with general plan, giving the viewer an understanding of where the event takes place (see the lesson "How to photograph a photo story").

So that the pictures from the width are not UG, you need to follow simple rules: 1) come close; 2) show the viewer clearly who is the main object; 3) not to make a "jumble" of thousands of subjects, to be easier; 4) if you want the natural proportions of the human body, use long focal lengths, but for street photography and humor, do not hesitate to shoot wide.

I understand that I am not an authority in photography, but try to carefully consider the theses that I have outlined here. Then go to Mywed and analyze the best shots - 30% of wedding photos are shot wide. Then type in Google the phrase “Kommersant, the best photos of the year". There, too, a third of the plots were obtained at a wide angle. Analyze each photo, compare it with what is in your portfolio, and then you will also start shooting masterpieces with a wide-angle lens. Good luck friends!

I also want to add that all of the above does not mean that we should always use width, and there are exceptions when we do not follow the rules described in the article. I also draw your attention to the fact that in a photo reportage it is advisable to alternate frames taken different types lenses: if all shots are shot with a wide-angle lens, the viewer will get bored.

Have you noticed that when shooting with this type of optics, lines in the frame become extremely important? Almost everywhere they very tenaciously "capture the eye" and lead the viewer to where the photographer needs it. You need to be very careful when building your composition.

In this article we have seen pictures taken on ultra wide angle lens Samyang 14mm f / 2.8. This lens has a relative:

First, let's take a look at some of the surprises and disadvantages of this lens.

• If you use this lens correctly, you can make the viewer feel in the middle of the scene.
• You, as a photographer, can get much closer to get fantastic pictures. If you can't get close enough, forget about the wide angle.
• This lens tends to exaggerate things, including objects, and phenomena, and emotions. People, faces, or terrain - it all seems to overwhelm the frame, if correctly compiled and processed.
• Composition really does matter when it comes to this lens, minimal camera movement and positioning yourself within the scene can make a dramatic difference in photography. Avoid catching your feet while shooting when framing.
• Shooting portraits with wide-angle lenses, of course, takes a lot of practice and some skill. Believe me, even professionals find it difficult to get a decent portrait shot. It is necessary to take into account that a person can lose proportionality and take measures to prevent such a phenomenon. Remember this is not a portrait lens.

In this article, we will discuss the pros with you wide-angle photographyas well as some interesting methods for shooting and negative aspects of wide-angle photos.

Distortion

A distortion in the lens is causing a defect in the image. There are practically no optics that do not cause some amount of distortion in the image. But when it comes to wide-angle lenses, you should be especially careful about this point. As a rule, stretching occurs in the corners of a photograph, due to which the object or subject loses its real shape and looks deformed in the photograph. It is quite difficult to avoid this, but you can still use such a disadvantage in favor of the image. In addition, this issue can be easily solved if we resort to better equipment. There are many methods available to correct deformations in frame processing.

Photo: Todd & Sarah Sisson

Framing

Clearly imagine what your object is inside, that is, what frames it. Perfect placement subject is the center of the frame. In this way, you can avoid the huge amount of distortion that is characteristic of the corners of the picture. In addition, a clearer understanding of the nature of the image arises and an excellent wide-angle photo is obtained.

Photo: Kevin McNeill

Photographer's position and composition

You can move a little or tilt the camera a little and at the same time get significant changes within the frame. it good opportunity improve the look of the scene. To do this, keep experimenting and take more test shots for great results. Introspection and patience are also useful.

Photo: Jared Ropilato

Stunning examples of wide-angle photos

Photo: Mac Danzig

Photo: Willie Huang

Photo: Joshua Cripps

Photo: Philip Eaglesfield

Photo: Chip Phillips

Photo: Michael Ryan

Photo: Brent Pearson

Photo: Jason Theaker

Photo: Jeffrey Schmid

Photo: Joserra Irusta

Photo: Joshua Cripps

Photo: Lars van de Goor

This article will discuss how to properly use wide-angle lenses. Some features of their work are also considered. Wide angle lenses are often used for the following purposes:

1. When you want to expand the landscapes with a large space, for example, filming a view of the city.
2. When it is desirable for the photographer to remain unnoticed when shooting on the street.

They have a diagonal of 100 degrees, and a width of 88 (a typical 35 mm frame).

How do wide angle lenses work? Their features

They have a large storage capacity. Therefore, the objects depicted in the photograph are reduced in half. This is the difference between shooting from a conventional standard lens. In simpler terms, the wide-angle should not be used for shooting mountainous landscapes, because it is very small.

You can solve this problem. You should add some large objects to the frame that come out in the foreground. It can be:

• bushes;
• puddles on the roads.

Thus, the effect of an active spot will be created, which the viewer can catch with his gaze.

When using wide-angle lenses, optical distortion may appear in pictures. These are barrel distortions. They appear at the periphery of the frame. But you shouldn't argue that the quality of the photo is degraded by this effect. Sometimes it happens the other way around. The composition in the shot looks more cozy with barrel distortions. If you would not like to bend the space, then take a closer look so that there are no trees or corners of houses around the edges. They will bend strongly. The camera must be held exactly horizontally, because there will be vertical blockages.

Wide angle lenses have increased "glitter". Therefore, you need to monitor the position of the sun when shooting on a sunny day. Use a lens hood if possible. If your outfit does not yet have it, then a little difficulty awaits you. because of big size wide-angle (77 mm or more), it is difficult to select a lens hood and filter. If you find them, they will cost you a decent amount.

Wide-angle lenses for Canon, combined with a short-throw lens, have specific use. Since the sky has uneven polarization at a wide angle, a dark blue spot appears on it. If you want to shoot a horizontal landscape with the sky, then the wide-angle is not recommended for use with a polarizer. If you still want to try, then you should opt for a narrow band ring. They are made specifically for wide angle lenses and prevent blackouts from entering the corner of the frame.

With such lenses, the use of the built-in flash unit simultaneously with the short throw option is ineffective. A weak flash will not be able to illuminate a huge spectrum of space and will be located close to a lens with a large diameter. Therefore, the pictures will dark spot in the form of a semicircle. It will be due to the fact that the lens will cast a shadow from the flash. She enters the frame from the bottom.

Of course, it's not just wide-angle lenses that cast shadows, but other types too. However, due to the smaller angle of the field of view, it does not fall into the frame.

The way out of this problem is to increase or use an off-camera flash.