Wide-angle lenses are incredibly useful because they
can create a distinctive look
can open up interior spaces
can show both foreground and background
allow you to shoot from very close to the subject
I would guess that for many, many photographers a wide-angle is the one lens they would choose if they had to choose.
On a full-frame SLR I think a wide-angle is anything wider than 35mm, and up to about 15mm. Beyond that you are pretty much into fisheye land.
Bottom Line: Wide-angles solve a lot of problems and can create a very strong aesthetic.
Left
Right
One of the first things photographers use a wide-angle to do is to allow the foreground to show along with more distant objects. In this case we use the wide-angle to look downward toward the photos, while also looking forward at Nicole.
This method is used extensively in landscape shooting, where a single seashell can be composed along with a distant sunset.
1/4, f22, 24mm, ISO 1600
Opening up interior space. If you need to shoot the inside of a room you need to use a wide angle, and generally the wider the better, up to about 15mm.
Nicole stands inside an archway and at
1/20 f19, 24mm
A person in an location. The wide angle allows you to capture a person and lots of their surroundings, which is often vital to the story you want to tell.
No matter how far back you might stand with a long lens you might be able to combine the subject and the environment — both in focus.
1/125, f8, 24mm
This is another portrait in an environment, but here Nicole is off to the side, suggesting something different than a photo where she is in the center.
1/125, f16, 16mm
The only lens that works. In this case I wanted a shot of Nicole sitting on a rock. There was no place to climb up to get this shot, so I just stood there and shot with a wide angle.
I think if I had shot from 20 feet higher with a longer lens the shot would not feel entirely different - but I didn't have that choice.
1/180, f9.5, 24mm
Emphasize what is closer. This is a subtle form of the "big head" technique used in panels 7 and 8.
I climbed up on a fence and shot down with a wide angle so Nicole's face was much closer than the rest of her, so it dominates. But I was not so close that the effect become entirely comic.
1/250, f9.5, 24mm
The "wide angle look".
Here there is some distortion in Nicole's face, but it is used as part of an overall approach. I also added a great deal of vignetting in order to emphasize the wide angle-center-focus-of-attention style.
1/125, f16, 16mm, SIO 100, studio flash
Wide angle goofiness. No discussion of wide angle shooting is complete without a big, goofy, fat-face distorted shot. In this case I was on my back, looking up, and Nicole peers down and the forest appears draped over her head.
1/30, f6.7, 16mm
One of the first things photographers use a wide-angle to do is to allow the foreground to show along with more distant objects. In this case we use the wide-angle to look downward toward the photos, while also looking forward at Nicole.
This method is used extensively in landscape shooting, where a single seashell can be composed along with a distant sunset.
1/4, f22, 24mm, ISO 1600
Opening up interior space. If you need to shoot the inside of a room you need to use a wide angle, and generally the wider the better, up to about 15mm.
Nicole stands inside an archway and at
1/20 f19, 24mm
A person in an location. The wide angle allows you to capture a person and lots of their surroundings, which is often vital to the story you want to tell.
No matter how far back you might stand with a long lens you might be able to combine the subject and the environment — both in focus.
1/125, f8, 24mm
This is another portrait in an environment, but here Nicole is off to the side, suggesting something different than a photo where she is in the center.
1/125, f16, 16mm
The only lens that works. In this case I wanted a shot of Nicole sitting on a rock. There was no place to climb up to get this shot, so I just stood there and shot with a wide angle.
I think if I had shot from 20 feet higher with a longer lens the shot would not feel entirely different - but I didn't have that choice.
1/180, f9.5, 24mm
Emphasize what is closer. This is a subtle form of the "big head" technique used in panels 7 and 8.
I climbed up on a fence and shot down with a wide angle so Nicole's face was much closer than the rest of her, so it dominates. But I was not so close that the effect become entirely comic.
1/250, f9.5, 24mm
The "wide angle look".
Here there is some distortion in Nicole's face, but it is used as part of an overall approach. I also added a great deal of vignetting in order to emphasize the wide angle-center-focus-of-attention style.
1/125, f16, 16mm, SIO 100, studio flash
Wide angle goofiness. No discussion of wide angle shooting is complete without a big, goofy, fat-face distorted shot. In this case I was on my back, looking up, and Nicole peers down and the forest appears draped over her head.
