Shooting Landscapes with Longer Focal Lengths
One of the simpler tips that I would suggest for those wanting to add a little variety to their landscape photography is to shoot with longer focal lengths.
While the majority of landscape photography is done with wide angle lenses (and rightly so – it’s a great way to capture to dramatic wide vistas) it can be very effective to take a lens with a longer focal length with you next time you set out to capture a scene.
Longer focal lengths can be particularly effective in those over-photographed locations where images can end up looking a little cliched. They’re also great for capturing patterns and layers on the horizon that often go unnoticed in landscapes shot with a wide lens.
A quick tip for those shooting landscapes with longer focal lengths – make sure you use a tripod. With longer focal lengths, any camera shake or movement will be amplified. The longer the lens the more noticeable it will become. So secure your camera and consider using a remote shutter release of some kind.
12 Responses to “Shooting Landscapes with Longer Focal Lengths” - Add Yours
September 28th, 2007 at 12:51 am
Image #2 is beautiful. Will give this a try on the weekend!
September 28th, 2007 at 12:53 am
I think in certain situations, using a longer focal length can look great for landscape shots. I particularly like the second image you’ve posted – the way the hills are ‘flattened’ into a more abstract composition really gives it a unique view, and one that is a bit more different from the usual landscape shot.
September 28th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Suggestions are good. I shall try it in my next outing. I think also that it will give some other sensational effects in the landscape. But use of tripod is a bit troublesome, although I feel that the advice is perfect and should have to maintain.Thanks for the advice, expectimg some more in future.
September 28th, 2007 at 2:27 am
Pretty interesting, should give it a try sometime :).
September 28th, 2007 at 4:21 am
Also to note, longer focal lengths compress the perspective, so things end up looking bunched up together – ideal if things are too spread out (e.g. field of flowers)
September 28th, 2007 at 5:25 am
Excelent tip!
September 28th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I too often use longer focal lengths, in the range of 70mm to 250mm. I find that the longer lengths give a unique perspective to photographing sunsets.
September 28th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Generally, I observe at various focal lengths of the same shot and which one is appealing to me, I will go for it. Yes you are right, we may get better shots at longer focal lengths.
September 29th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Thanks for the info. Love the mountains shot.
October 1st, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Great tip. I’ll try it as soon as possible, tomorrow perhaps. The mountains are very beautiful indeed.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I’ll have to be the lone decenter: I like the first (trees & flowers) picture better. But good tip nonetheless.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Re: Perspective: The lens has NOTHING to do with perspective. Perspective depends entirely upon the physical (geometric) relationship between the subject and the camera. To prove this, put your camera on a tripod with a good zoom lens. Take a series of pictures at various focal lengths, then compare them. It’s easiest to do this if you change the focal length in integer multiples–e.g., 50mm, 100mm, 150mm, 200mm. Download the photos and then blow up the ones taken at the shorter focal lengths so that the image is the same size. (In the example above, you’d blow up the 50mm by a factor of 4 & the 100mm by 2.) Crop the blown-up images to give the same framing as the long focal length. You should see that the perspective is EXACTLY the SAME.
The myth arose, I expect, because, with prime lenses, photographers had to change their location to control the framing–the proverbial “sneaker zoom.” When using a shorter focal length, they had to get closer. It was getting closer that changed the perspective, not the lens, itself.
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Other reasons for using longer focal lengths in landscapes:
1. To minimize the “parking lot” effect–the huge expanse of foreground at the bottom of the image. Sometimes, that is interesting; most of the time, it’s not. Longer focal lengths can reduce distraction/unwanted objects from the image, in general. I found this last summer doing a shot where there were powerlines above. I couldn’t get past the powerlines–I had to shoot from a road, so I used a longer focal length to narrow the field of view to just under the lines. (An alternative would have been to clone them out in post-processing, but I’m lazy.)
2. To minimize distortion. Most zooms–especially those that start at true “wide-angle” focal lengths–have greater distortion (usually barrel) at the short focal length end. This can be obvious when shooting architecture, but I’ve seen it in landscapes, as well–e.g., telephone/power poles on the edge of the frame bending over.
3. To control depth of focus. At the same focus distance and aperture, a longer focal length lens will have a shallower depth of focus. That can also help minimize distractions and draw the viewer’s attention to the intended subject. This is a great help with wildlife photography, where one often wants to blur the background. I found it useful, as well, in photographing a solitary tree, blurring the background.
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