52 Assignments has started very well. The first one, Details in Your Surroundings, has taken off quite well. Almost 500 images were posted to my Facebook group.
Most have also gotten the idea. It is all about starting to photograph more and looking around for new genres and ideas. A great image will follow.
Week 2: Wide Angle
Wide Angle lenses are one of those lenses that a photographer needs to have in their toolbox. Wide Angle is also my assignment for you this week. If you do not what 52 Assignments is then watch this video.
What is a wide-angle lens?
A lens is considered a wide-angle lens if it is shorter than a normal lens. Normal lens in full-frame is about 50mm, in APS-C around 34mm, and in MFT about 25mm.
I have listed a few reasons why you might want to use a wide angle lens.
1. You need a wider field of view.
This is most likely the most obvious reason. You are in a tight spot and need wider field of view to include everything in the frame. This applies to indoor and outdoor photography. Especially landscape photographers use a wide-angle lens a lot. Capturing that wide scene in front of you a wide-angle is needed.
2. You need to give more attention to the foreground
This is a very good reason to use wide-angle lenses. Usually, also you need something in the foreground to give depth to the image. This has to do with the fact that subjects that are close looks to be bigger. that is also a character of a wide-angle lens.
3. Characteristics of a wide-angle lens
One thing was already mentioned. Objects that are close to the camera seem to be bigger than the ones in the back. A wide-angle makes close objects bigger.
The second thing is that the depth of field is bigger than with longer lenses. Getting very shallow depth of field with a wide-angle lens you need to be really close. Separating the subject from the background is harder. In most cases, you need other methods, like light and shadow, color contrast, etc.
If the field of view is very big then there might some distortion. That can be corrected and at least Olympus cameras have a correction formula built-in. But distortion can be a problem if you want all the lines to be straight.
4. Tips on how to use a wide-angle
Try to have a visual anchor in the frame. A visual anchor is an object that catches our eye. It is very important to have a visual anchor in your image and it is extra critical to have them in an image made with a wide-angle lens.
Try to have the camera leveled so that vertical lines are straight. Of course, tilting the camera can make a great effect too. The most important thing is to know how a wide-angle lens behaves.
More info about it from the video.
I hope this helps you in this weeks assignment which is wide angle. More info about the lens type from the video below.