DAY 141

PHOTOGRAPHY 101

How Lenses Affect Perspective

DEPENDS ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT

Perspective is the way that we perceive depth, distance, and size.

Shortening the distance between the camera and the subject causes the closest objects to the lens to appear larger. A good example of this is a photograph of someone sitting on the floor with their legs and feet stretched out in front of them toward the camera. The resulting photograph will appear as though the subject’s feet are extremely large in proportion to the rest of his body.

Wide-angle lenses exaggerate this phenomenon even further. Since wide-angle lenses can be focused at a shorter distance, it is easy to get too close to the subject, resulting in a photograph similar to the one on this page.

If you were to hold the camera the same distance from your subject and use a short lens, a medium-length lens, and then a long lens to take three separate exposures, each photograph would show progressively smaller portions of the subject.

Perspective can also be exaggerated by the way we hold the camera. The next time you are outside, find a fairly tall tree and stand close to it and take a photo while aiming up at the top of the tree. By doing this, you will be purposely distorting the appearance of the tree to look taller than it actually is because you tipped the camera back and the film plane or sensor was no longer parallel to the subject. The same effect can be used on buildings. —CWN