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Composition3 min read

LESSON 34

Perspective and lens choice

Distance shapes the picture, not the lens.

IN THIS LESSON

  1. The rule people get backwards
  2. Extension: close and wide
  3. Compression: far and long
  4. In practice: choosing for a face

The rule people get backwards

It is common to say that a wide lens distorts and a long lens compresses. That is only half true. The shape of a scene, how big near things look against far ones, is set by where the camera stands. Two pictures taken from the same spot show exactly the same perspective, whatever the lens; the wide one simply shows more around the edges. If you crop both to the same view, they match. The lens matters because it changes where you choose to stand. A wide lens invites you to come close, a long lens makes you step back, and it is that change of distance that changes the picture.

Extension: close and wide

When you shoot from close with a wide-angle lens, objects near the lens look very large and things further off look small and far away. Distances seem stretched. This is called extension distortion, or wide-angle distortion. It is the effect of a car's side mirror, and of a nose that looks too big when the camera is very close to a face. Used on purpose it is strong: a flower that towers over a field, a hand that reaches out of the frame, a road that rushes away. Wide lenses also make tilted verticals lean harder, which is why buildings shot upward from the pavement seem to fall back.

Compression: far and long

When you shoot from far away with a long lens, the opposite happens. Distant objects look about the same size as nearer ones, and the gaps between them seem to shrink. This is compression, or telephoto distortion. It is the look of a street where signs and buildings appear stacked on top of each other, or a moon that looms over a city. A strict note: a telephoto lens is a particular design that is physically shorter than its focal length. Long lenses that are not built that way are called long-focus lenses, though most people call them all telephoto.

In practice: choosing for a face

This section is working practice. For a head-and-shoulders portrait, a moderately long lens used from a few metres away keeps the nose, ears and chin in the proportions people expect. The same framing from very close with a wide lens enlarges whatever is nearest the camera. Neither is wrong; one flatters and one exaggerates. Decide first what you want to stress, then choose the distance, then the lens that gives the framing from there. Lesson 05 explains focal length and angle of view if you need the numbers.

Try it today

  1. 01Put a friend in front of a building and frame them head to waist with a wide lens, close.
  2. 02Step far back and make the same framing with a long lens.
  3. 03Compare how big the building looks behind them in each picture.
  4. 04From one spot, shoot wide and long, then crop the wide one to match. Note they agree.
  5. 05Shoot a row of poles or trees from far with a long lens to see them stack.