Exercise: Focal lengths - and different viewpoints

As we saw in the last exercise, different focal lengths (from the same viewpoint) can alter the perspective or character of an image.  In this exercise, the objective was to experiment with changing the stance or viewpoint by moving forward in a straight line with the camera.  We were asked to photograph a building or person in a setting with enough depth to show the differences in  two photographs, one with a telephoto lens and the other with a wide angel lens. I chose an ornamental feature in a local park.

telephoto @ 105mm from 11.9m

wide angel @ 24mm from 1.7m

In the first image, I framed the fountain tightly to fit the vertical frame. I was 11.9m from the subject and you can see the telephoto lens brings the subject closer. I am not certain though, whether this image is a bit flat.

For the second shot, I used the wide angle view and walked forward to a distance of 6.5 m from the subject to try and replicate the telephoto shot.  You can see the difference here, you can see the pond at the bottom of the fountain - something which was not visible in the telephoto shot.  Seemingly there is a difference in perspective here.

I have had to think quite carefully about the last two exercises, I don't think I had appreciated how much of an effect on perspective - changing an angel of view could be - I would never have thought about comparing the images through the viewfinder by walking forward in a straight line as I did above. 

Conclusion:

1. The point to remember is that the focal length of the lens determines the angel of view. Changing to a longer lens (telephoto) makes the subject appear closer and effects the amount of view you can take in.

2. If we change our standing point and move with the camera then this also changes the perspective of the image.

The course materials suggest from now on that when we look at scenes we should think in terms of wide-angel shots or telephoto.  Again, I find myself at a point where I really have to cognitively force myself to think like this.

Photographers: Ansel Adams

Today I looked at some of the photographs taken by early photographers (see the link to the  Masters http://www.masters-of-photography.com/index.html (Accessed 2/07/2012)). I was amazed to see the detail and clarity in the images taken on some of the old cameras.  I spent quite sometime looking at the images on this website and could not believe the amazing feel that some of the old film images had. For example,  Ansel Adams' image below,  shows so much skill at producing such detail - all of which had to be done in the darkroom.  The quality of film seems to be unparallelled.

 

Ansel Adams
Minarets, Evening Clouds, California
c. 1937

©The Trustees of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

Exercise: Focal lengths for cameras with variable focal lengths (zoom)

The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate the impact different focal lengths can have on shots of the same image. We were required to take a number of photographs of the same image, but using different focal lengths on the lens.  My lens range is 24 - 105mm, so I took a photograph at the widest angel setting / focal length of 24mm, one at the mid range about 45mm and then a telephoto @ 105mm.

Photograph one 24mm wide angel.

This photograph uses the smallest focal length and gives us the widest angel of view. This angel captures the wide expansive skyline, hills on the distant horizon and the large expanse of foreground.

Photograph two 45mm standard view

I decided on 45mm as the mid range standard view point on my lens.  Here the hills in the background are more noticeable. The foreground decreases and the bee hives become closer. After viewing this on the monitor, iam more aware of the "long white cloud" - the Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa which means the land of the long white cloud.

Photograph three

The long white cloud has disappeared into the top of the frame, and the hills in the background are much more prominant (with the naked eye, they have a 3-D effect, on this picture though they are flat). The bee hive at the forefront is now the dominating feature and the foreground has reduced dramatically.

It has been a day or two since I took the above photographs, and I wanted to re-cap on the intention behind this exercise - basically to consolidate a few points. 

• we have a horizontal gaze which focuses sharply in the middle to vaguely across a wide angel (oval shaped) with our peripheral vision (p 46 of the course materials Photography 1 The Art of Photography). 
• when we use a standard focal length lens we get a similar view as with the unaided eye - albeit sharper across the whole image (in my opinion) not just in the middle as with the unaided eye.
• a telephoto lens, draws the image closer - however, this is not the same thing as moving the camera closer to the subject. As the focal length changes, the character of the image changes, as you can see, with Photograph one, the smallest focal length of 24mm,  gives us the widest angel of view - thereby capturing the distant hills and the wide expansive skyline. In contrast, the narrowest angel of view is captured using the telephoto focal length of 105m. This magnifies the bee hives and draws them closer - the crux is the angel of view narrows as the focal length increases.

The next exercise, focuses on "moving" towards the subject to explore the effect of focal lengths.