While talking about photography and cameras, one term that we often hear is a wide-angle lens. But what exactly is a wide-angle lens, and how can one use it in their photography to take some great pictures? You will know all about wide-angle photography tips and tricks in this article.
Below we will talk about wide-angle lenses and some very important tips that one should keep in mind when using a wide-angle lens.
What is a wide-angle lens?
A wide-angle lens is any camera lens that has a small focal length but a relatively wide-view field. Generally, any lenses with 35mm or less focal length fall into the category of wide-angle lenses. The wide lens allows one to capture a broad area when taking a photo when compared to a regular lens or the naked eye.
This is what makes a wide lens great for landscape photography as well as architectural photography. Wide-angle lenses are also great if you want to compare different elements in a picture without losing any focus. They are also perfect for making small spaces look vast and spacious and thereby find use in a lot of interior photography.
Now that you know what a wide-angle lens is and where it finds the most photography applications, we will share with you some top tips that will take your photos to the Pro level.
By adopting these tips, you will capture the most stunning images and avoid many rookie mistakes that can affect your pictures’ quality.
6 Pro Tips for Better Wide–Angle Landscape Photography
1. Take advantage of the complete foreground:
As apparent from the name, wide-angle lenses have a very broad field of view. This gives the photographer a variety of options that they can include in their picture. Try to add some interesting elements and things in your picture that will hold the viewer’s attention.
There should be enough elements that will fill the complete picture with a wider frame so that any part doesn’t feel empty or lacking. And try to find a perfect balance among all the elements to create beautiful and eye-capturing results.
2. Focus on selective elements only:
Even though a wide-angle lens has a far-reaching view, it is highly advisable to stick to only a few primary elements in a single photo. This may sound contradictory to our above tip so let us explain what we mean by this.
There is a lot of extra space in a wide-angle lens, but that doesn’t mean that the frame should be filled with objects to the point that there is no primary element. One should try to find the right balance where the secondary elements compliment your picture’s main aspects and not overpower them.
3. Choose a vertical format in your pictures:
One perception that most people have when using a wide-angle lens is that it is only suitable for taking pictures only in the horizontal mode. But we suggest you to try shooting with a wide lens in the vertical mode.
Just by tilting the camera and switching to the vertical frame, you can capture the scene’s complete height, which can be useful in architectural photography. Even in landscape photography, a standing frame can be used to capture the sky that always adds many beautiful features to your photo.
4. Try shooting from different heights and angles:
Another great trick when shooting with a wide-angle lens is to get a picture from varying heights and altitudes. The same view can look different when captured at different heights, which is why we recommend you experiment with heights and angles.
Just make sure that there is no distortion caused when using a wide-angle lens. Watch the frame’s edges that may appear to converge inward in any straight objects like trees and buildings. Though this effect can be avoided by keeping the camera perpendicular and level to the ground.
5. Play with the focus:
Another great feature of a wide-angle lens is that it does not lose focus of the frame’s background elements like a telephoto lens. One can quickly achieve photo results that have a high focus on all the elements or objects in the picture.
To achieve that, you have to take the help of the focus staking feature. Using this, all you need to do is capture multiple pictures that focus on different elements of the same frame. In post-shooting processes, one can stack all the images on top of each other to get an entirely focused result.
6. Face Your Camera Upwards:
When working with a wide-angle lens camera facing the camera upwards can create a lovely aspect of distortion. This can give the photos a 3-dimensional effect, emphasizing the picture’s primary objects and elements.
You can even use this quality of the lens to highlight simple patterns or textures in the pictures to make them stand out. This means that now you can transform the boring background in your images to intrigued patterns using a wide-angle lens.
7. Let the sky tell its story:
As mentioned earlier, a wide-angle lens is mostly used for landscape and architecture photography in which the sky is an integral part. By leaving a portion of the frame to capture the atmosphere, you can add new and unknown objects to your pictures.
From sunset and sunrise to the clouds’ patterns in the sky and birds flying in the open sky, there are so many big and small objects that can be included in a photograph by just incorporating a little bit of sky in your pictures.
Conclusion
After going through our tips, we hope you feel more confident using a wide lens in your photography projects. It doesn’t matter if you are an amateur photographer or an experienced one; incorporating our top tips, you will achieve excellent results for your pictures.
As we mentioned earlier, using a wide-angle lens is not as intimidating as many people believe it to be, and with the right techniques and tips, one can get amazing results. So, go ahead and start experimenting and capture jaw-dropping images using a wide-angle lens.
Here also look for wildlife photography camera.
