It really matters how close you get, but with wide-angle lenses it is hard to conceive of just how close you can get — and how radical the effect is of shooting from less than an inch from the subject. Here Nicole is giving us two poses — one where she leads with her eye, one where she leads with her lips. And when you get really close with the 8mm fisheye the eye or the lips become absurdly dominant. Actually, it's pretty arresting, but clearly falls into a gimmicky category.
Bottom Line: The closer you get to the subject, the more its shape becomes amplified.
Left
Right
Nothing quite like a lip shot with the fisheye. When you get this close the lens can't even see above or below the lips so they look like they are a separate object in front of the face. You have to be careful not to get lipstick on the lens, and since you can't put a UV safety filter on a fisheye, you really do need to be careful.
8mm, f11, studio strobe
At 24mm there is some distortion, but hardly compares to the 8mm fisheye. But if you compare to 100mm and 300mm you see the lips get smaller.
24mm, f11, studio strobe
At 100mm the lips are smaller and the shape of the face is much different.
100mm, f11, studio strobe
At 300mm the lips are not much different, but Nicole's face is looking remarkably flat.
300mm, f11, studio strobe
It is hard to understand the extreme distortion you get with fisheye closeups until you see just HOW close you really are when you shoot.
8mm, f11, studio strobe
At 24mm the strange distortion is gone, but the face is much different in shape than at 100mm.
16mm, f11, studio strobe
With a 100mm portrait focal length the angles even out so that there is not much different in Nicole leading with lips vs eyes.
24mm, f11, studio strobe
With a 300mm tele focal length we again see Nicole's face looking quite flat, which shows that you CAN shoot with too long a lens, for some subjects at some angles.
300mm, f11, studio strobe
Nothing quite like a lip shot with the fisheye. When you get this close the lens can't even see above or below the lips so they look like they are a separate object in front of the face. You have to be careful not to get lipstick on the lens, and since you can't put a UV safety filter on a fisheye, you really do need to be careful.
8mm, f11, studio strobe
At 24mm there is some distortion, but hardly compares to the 8mm fisheye. But if you compare to 100mm and 300mm you see the lips get smaller.
24mm, f11, studio strobe
At 100mm the lips are smaller and the shape of the face is much different.
100mm, f11, studio strobe
At 300mm the lips are not much different, but Nicole's face is looking remarkably flat.
300mm, f11, studio strobe
It is hard to understand the extreme distortion you get with fisheye closeups until you see just HOW close you really are when you shoot.
8mm, f11, studio strobe
At 24mm the strange distortion is gone, but the face is much different in shape than at 100mm.
16mm, f11, studio strobe
With a 100mm portrait focal length the angles even out so that there is not much different in Nicole leading with lips vs eyes.
24mm, f11, studio strobe
With a 300mm tele focal length we again see Nicole's face looking quite flat, which shows that you CAN shoot with too long a lens, for some subjects at some angles.
