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focal length

How to pick the perfect focal length for your photos

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Picking a lens to use for certain situations, especially as a beginner, can be a daunting task. Yet, it’s one of the most important choices you can make when it comes to creating a photograph. Different focal lengths, and the distances they may require you to be from your subject, can have a massive impact on how the image looks and the mood and feeling it gives off.

In this video, Dave Paul at The Camera Store TV walks us through the entire process of picking a lens. He begins with the fundamentals of what focal length even is, then taking us through how it affects the various aspects of your shot and composition. Dave uses the full-frame Sony E mount system as his base, but the same principles apply to any camera system. The numbers are a little different for non-full-frame formats, though.

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Wide-angle lenses are not “landscape lenses” – All lenses are landscape lenses

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Whenever we turn our hand towards photographing a landscape, I think most of us tend to go for the widest lens we own. Or at least, if not the widest, something pretty wide. It’s a logical and natural choice to make, though. We’re confronted with this beautiful view and we want to be able to capture as much of it as possible. But is it potentially doing more harm than good for your photography?

In this video, Mads Peter Iverson talks about this issue and that we really need to start breaking out of the mindset that we need a wide-angle lens in order to be able to shoot good landscape photography. It’s an interesting discussion that not only discusses the benefits of using longer focal lengths to shoot landscapes but the downfalls of only using wide angle lenses.

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How focal length and subject distance affects car photography

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We’ve all seen these kinds of animations before when it comes to portrait photography. We’ve featured a few of them here on DIYP before where we see how the changing focal length affects the way a subject’s face is rendered. And as with the portrait ones, this one serves as a good example of that point but using cars. Although it’s slightly misrepresenting itself.

As with similar such animations for portraits, this Reel post from liberdamedia leaves out the fact that the distance to the subject has changed, too. And that’s what really affects your perspective – more so than the focal length. But it’s a great example to illustrate how the shot changes as you alter those two variables.

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Are you really using the right lens for your landscapes? Here’s how to choose

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Landscape photography isn’t only about wide-angle lenses as we’ve seen before. You can use a wide range of lenses for landscape shots, from ultra-wide to really long, even over 200mm. But which one to pick? Nigel Danson has the answers you need. In this video, he’ll help you choose the ideal lens for different scenes and compositions.

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This photo of “crowded” California beach is not what it seems

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We have already seen that the change of perspective and focal length can drastically change the story. And after the latest controversy over a “crowded” beach in California, we can see exactly how it works in the context of reporting.

After a photo of the beach was published, people started a heated debate over it, claiming that it was “fake.” And in a way, they were right. The photo wasn’t doctored, but it was taken with a telephoto lens, making the beach look overcrowded. Filmed from a helicopter, the situation turned out to be much different.

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“The camera never lies” is a myth and these photographers explain why

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During the coronavirus crisis, the importance of keeping a distance from others keeps popping up. And yet, we keep seeing photos that show people standing way close to one another. The camera never lies. Or does it?

Copenhagen-based photojournalists Ólafur Steinar Rye Gestsson and Philip Davali decided to debunk the myth that the camera always tells the truth. In an experiment for the photo news agency Ritzau Scanpix, they took photos in public using different lenses and perspectives. The photos they made show just how much you can change the story by simply changing the angle of view or the focal length.

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This is how focal length affects your portraits, from 24 to 135 mm

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The focal length of your lens affects your portraits, both in terms of subject distortion and the subject-background relationship. In this video, Julia Trotti demonstrates how this looks. She uses five prime lenses from 24mm to 135mm, so you can see just how much the change in focal length can change the final look of your image.

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This trick will tell you which lens to buy next

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Buying a new lens is always an exciting event. But, with such a huge choice, you may be indecisive about the one in which you should invest your hard-earned money. In this video, Toma Bonciu suggests a simple trick that will help you determine what would be the ideal next lens for you. Additionally, this trick can also help you when you have to pack light: it will help you to decide the ideal lens to bring.

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This video shows how focal length and zooming affect subject-background relationship in your photos

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I believe you already know that “zooming with your feet” and changing the focal length can affect the relationship between your subject and the background. In this short video, you can see the effect of both coming close to the subject and changing the focal length, and how it affects the final look of your image.

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Lenses – An overview on field of view, focal length and crop factors

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Lenses are an integral part of photography or filmmaking. Well, unless you’re using a pinhole camera. But field of view, focal length, and crop factors can be confusing for newer photographers. This video from The Basic Filmmaker goes over the basics of what they all mean and how to convert “focal length equivalency” for non-full frame sensors.

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