How Using Your Zoom Affects Your Shot
/When I began taking pictures, I viewed the zoom function of my camera as a way of extending my reach when my subject was too far away. The purpose of the zoom was simply a way to get closer without actually having to move my feet. If you feel like I did about zooms, then I'd like to share with you that there is so much more to it than just that!
When you change focal lengths on your camera you are doing so much more than changing the size of the subject in your picture. You are also changing the relationship between your subject and the environment. By decreasing the focal length (zooming out), you get far more of the environment around your subject into the picture. This is useful when on vacation and you are trying to capture more of the scene. The opposite is true when you increase the focal length (zooming in). When using a longer focal length, a smaller amount of the background is included. This is great when the picture should be focused primarily on the subject. This effect is called "compression" because the result is that the elements in the picture seem to all come together the more you zoom in. I took some shots of my daughter at the mall to demonstrate this effect.
These are shots taken at 24mm, 36mm, 50mm, and 80mm*:
I tried my best to keep my daughter in the same spot in the picture for each of these shot. Notice how the house in the background looks like it's getting closer and closer to her in each progressive shot. That's because the wider the angle, the more of the environment around your subject gets into the picture. The lesson here is if you are trying to get a shot of your family in front of the Eiffel Tower, be sure to use the widest angle possible and step closer to them. Here's an example at Disneyland. My goal was to get both Minnie and the entire castle in the shot:
The first shot was at a wider angle. As a result, minnie looks nice and large and the whole castle is there in the background. The second shot was a little over two times zoomed in from the first and you can see the result. In order to get the whole castle in the shot, I had to step back so far, Minnie became really tiny!
Now if you are trying to take portraits of members of your family, there's a reason why we want to step back and zoom in. Wide angle lenses by nature tend to distort objects that are close to it. Once again, I used my daughter as a subject in front of the same house, and here's the result:
Again at 24mm, 36mm, 50mm, and 80mm*
You can see in the first picture how the wide angle has distorted the proportions on her face. Her nose looks like it's been pulled forward and causes a sort of "fisheye" effect. In contrast, the greater the focal length, the more natural and realistic the proportions are. Also, when taking a portrait, your model should be the most important element. You wouldn't want the background to distract from your subject, so less is better in this instance. Lastly, working distance is another consideration. You wouldn't want to have your camera practically touching your subject when taking a shot of his or her face!
The next time you are about to take a picture, think about what you are trying to achieve. Do you want your focus to be squarely on your subject or are you trying to place your subject in context of the environment? With this thought in mind, choosing the right focal length can help you achieve the look you want.
I hope this tip was helpful! If you found it to be so, be sure to like and share on Facebook. I'm looking forward to sharing more advice in the coming weeks so be sure to look out for updates!
*These focal lengths are taken from the old 35mm film standard. Unless you are shooting a full frame camera (most of us are not and you would know if you are!) then there's a little math involved. For most DSLR's you would take whatever number it says on your lens and multiply by 1.5 to reach the 35mm equivalent. I shoot with a system called micro four thirds which is multiplied by 2; so those pictures were actually taken at 12mm, 18mm, 25mm, and 40mm.