What are the skills of using wide-angle lens?

Lead: The fun of shooting from a unique perspective lies in the use of wide-angle lenses. Some people love and some people hate such a charming shot. Let's take a look at the novice's questions about wide-angle lenses.

What's wrong with using a wide-angle lens? What is a wide-angle lens?

In short, it is a lens with short focal length, wide viewing angle and deep scene.

The basic characteristics of a wide-angle lens are its large viewing angle and wide field of vision. The range of scenery observed from a certain viewpoint is much larger than that seen by human eyes at the same viewpoint; The depth of field is long, which can show a fairly clear range; It can emphasize the perspective effect of the picture, be good at exaggerating the foreground and express the sense of distance of the scene, which is conducive to enhancing the appeal of the picture.

Question 2: What's the difference between wide-angle lens and other lenses?

Compared with standard lens, wide-angle lens is a kind of lens that will lead to exaggerated deformation of the picture. The focal length of wide-angle lens is shorter than that of standard lens, generally between 24 mm and 35 mm, but its viewing angle is about twice that of standard lens. Because of the large viewing angle and wider field of vision, it has great advantages to shoot in a narrow space. Generally, we often use wide-angle lenses such as 16-35mm and 12-24mm.

Wide-angle lens will distort the perspective relationship between near and far in the picture to varying degrees, and the degree of distortion is related to the focal length of the lens. The shorter the focal length, the greater the distortion. It is also closely related to the distance between the lens and the subject. The farther the shooting distance, the smaller the deformation. The closer the shooting distance, the greater the deformation.

Question 3: When is it appropriate for beginners to start using wide-angle lenses?

The world under a wide-angle lens is different from the world observed by our eyes, so if we want to take photos through a wide-angle lens and express our ideas and creativity well, we need to have some control. Therefore, friends who are new to photography can get started after they have a certain understanding of the basic knowledge and equipment.

Question 4: What theme is suitable for wide-angle lens and what theme is not suitable?

In my opinion, there is no conflict between the equipment and the theme itself. The problem is how to combine the characteristics of wide-angle lens with the shooting theme reasonably.

Break the subject matter limit and want to shoot a good work with a wide-angle lens? Let's take a look at what we need to pay attention to in actual operation.

composition

In a wide-angle lens? Let you see more widely? In this case, composition is particularly important. It is not simply to put more things into the picture, we must use appropriate composition skills to ensure that the photos have impact.

Come closer.

Only by getting close enough can we get an exaggerated perspective effect and make the work different. Please use it properly and think about it when you take a close-up portrait. I don't think your model wants to look rounder or like the big-headed dog in the cartoon.

Pay attention to the level of the horizon

Mastering the balance of the picture is a crucial thing. Regardless of the scene deformation at the edge of the picture, the center of the picture should be horizontal and vertical first. If your picture contains a horizon, please make sure that the horizon is in the horizontal position of the picture to avoid the picture tilting.

Look up and be afraid of distortion

If you are close to the edge of the picture, barrel distortion is easy to appear. When novices can't make reasonable use of this distortion, they can try to shoot from an elevation angle, which can create a photo with a strong sense of depression. The self-contained style makes that twisted strange feeling instantly reasonable.

Reasonably arrange the front, middle and long-term prospects.

A wide-angle lens is used to approximate the foreground, and its lens characteristics are used to exaggerate the size ratio of the foreground to the middle and long-range pixels. The wider the focal length of the lens, the more obvious the foreground exaggeration effect. Reasonable arrangement and cooperation can increase the layering of the picture, create a harmonious atmosphere and make the whole picture more stylized.

blur

One way to blur with wide-angle lens is to change the shooting distance between the subject and the camera. With the expansion of the distance between the subject and the camera, the background blur becomes less and less obvious. The closer you get to the person being photographed, the easier it is to blur the background.

Keep the distance between the camera and the subject unchanged, and change the distance between the background and the subject to shoot. The farther the distance between the background and the characters is, the greater the blur is; As the characters get closer to the background, the blur becomes smaller and smaller.

If the distance between the subject and the background is shortened, even if a bright large aperture is selected, there will be almost no blur. Although compared with the distance between the subject and the camera, the greater the distance between the subject and the background, the more obvious the blur will be. But if the background is pulled too far, you can't see it even if it is blurred. So photographers need to weigh various factors to consider.

Perspective distortion

Wide-angle lenses are usually used to shoot very close to the subject. The closer the shooting distance, the stronger the perspective effect.

Distortion cannot be used as a criterion to judge the quality of wide-angle lens. If you can't appreciate this distortion, let's take a look at how to repair the wide-angle distortion in the photo with PS.

1. Use adaptive wide-angle filter (PS CS6)

2. Find both ends of the curve and use the constraint tool to pull out the arc. This arc can be straightened immediately and automatically, and the image can be corrected at the same time.

3. Cut it again.

Shooting with a wide-angle lens can achieve the following effects:

1. can increase the sense of spatial depth of photographic images;

2. The depth of field is long, which can ensure that the scene before and after the subject can be clearly reproduced on the screen. Therefore, the vast majority of modern pocket automatic cameras use ordinary wide-angle lenses of 38-35 mm;

3. The lens covers a large area and has a wide range of scenes;

4. The scene shot at the same shooting distance is smaller than the scene image shot with the standard lens;

5. Perspective distortion and image distortion are easy to appear in the picture. The shorter the focal length of the lens and the closer the shooting distance, the more obvious this defect is.

According to the effect characteristics of the wide-angle lens above, the practical skills of the wide-angle lens are explained according to the shooting theme below.

Take a portrait

Making long legs MM with wide-angle lens

When shooting, if we put the model on the edge around the picture, or shoot it from a overlooking angle, it will cause the deformation of the characters; When we shoot at a higher angle than head-up, we usually lengthen the upper part of the character and shorten the lower part of the character. At this time, the legs of the characters will appear shorter. It is not recommended to use this angle when shooting ordinary portraits from a wide angle.

Due to the characteristics of spherical glass, the deformation characteristics of wide-angle lens are determined, that is, the edge of the picture will be lengthened, which can also be used reasonably in some cases; For example, when we shoot a model, if we want to make the model's legs look more slender, we can use a wide-angle lens and use a bottom-up shooting method to decorate the model's legs in the early shooting.

If you want to shoot the model's legs very long with a wide-angle lens, the premise is to use vertical composition. Because of the characteristics of the lens, horizontal composition will flatten the model, and it will fail half before shooting.

When shooting with vertical composition, the picture can be divided into three equal parts. Usually photographers put the model's head and body in the middle of the picture. When shooting with a wide-angle lens, the deformation in this area is the lightest. Although we want the model's legs to be longer when shooting, we don't want the model's head and body to be deformed, so putting the head, hands and body in the middle can minimize the deformation.

Then put the model's legs on the bisector below the bisector screen. The deformation of the wide-angle lens is stretching upward, downward, left and right from the middle, so you can easily shoot your legs very long and put your legs in this part.

Using wide-angle lens to enhance near-field motion

The strong stereoscopic effect of the super wide-angle lens provides a powerful technical means for shooting moving objects. It can weaken the dynamics of objects in the distant scene, but at the same time greatly exaggerate the dynamics of objects in the near scene; Taking this into account consciously when shooting will make the photos have a strong sense of movement.

You can try to make the model jump in place, and the photographer can shoot in the posture of lying on the ground to capture the dynamic moment of the model jumping.

Expand the local area and increase the interest.

Wide-angle lens can produce exaggerated perspective effect, which can make the objects in the picture farther away, and the objects near the lens become larger than normal, becoming the most prominent place on the picture; Distant objects gradually? Push back? It becomes smaller than what the naked eye sees.

Using this principle, we can not only emphasize the sense of perspective, but also adjust the composition and fully show the happy atmosphere.

Shoot the scenery

Processing and application of lines

Line is an abstract form of expression in photographic pictures. It can be a boundary, an intersection of faces or a continuation of points. It often has magical power in the picture shot by wide-angle lens, so it plays an important role in the picture composition. It frames the space through lines, shows the rhythm and order, and guides the viewer's eyes to converge on one point in the picture, which may be the main body of our work.

Reasonable prospect

The foreground can't be ignored, because the picture taken by wide-angle lens has a strong perspective relationship. If we don't consider the rational use of the prospect, the works will often appear empty, lacking a sense of space and comparative reference. The prospect can be big or small, either as a subject or as a partner.

Emphasize the sense of depth and the stability of composition

In fact, the composition of wide-angle lens is inconclusive, but we should pay attention to the reasonable arrangement of near, middle and far in landscape photography. Improper arrangement, the composition will be unbalanced, and the stability of the composition should be emphasized.

How to grasp wide-angle lens

We usually use wide-angle lenses to describe big scenes, but it is easy to see that the works we shoot are not as spectacular as those we see on the spot, because we ignore the perspective of space and the grasp of depth when shooting.

When using a wide-angle lens, we should pay attention to avoid its shortcomings. For example, because the wide-angle lens has a wide angle of view, it is easy to shoot unwanted scenery. Moreover, because the scene in the viewfinder is narrowed, it is often difficult to detect when shooting. In addition, when using this kind of lens, try to be close to the subject, otherwise the subject will appear small and waste the picture space.

Be careful when adding filters to wide-angle lenses. Because the viewing angle is too large, the filter will darken the four corners of the picture. Sometimes, even if there is no filter, the color tone of the image taken with a super wide-angle lens may gradually darken from the center to the edge of the picture. This is because when shooting with a super wide-angle lens, the distance from the light entering the lens to the edge of the film is much greater than the distance to the central part. However, some people think that the proper use of filters can add a unique artistic conception to the works shot by super wide-angle lenses. Filters used in black and white movies, such as orange and red series, can create a strange surreal atmosphere for the works. This effect is more obvious when using color film. However, multi-level exposure should be considered to ensure correct exposure.

In addition, there are some skills about the use of super wide-angle lenses.

1. Arrange something interesting in the foreground, or there will be a big blank in the picture. Landscape photography can reduce the number of planes and take in some wild flowers or stones in the foreground.

2. Pay attention to finding lines that are helpful for composition and add better visual effects to the picture.

3. Pay attention to the interesting sky. Because the super wide-angle lens will take a lot of pictures of the sky, clouds can be used to form some lines.

4. Try to keep the camera level when shooting buildings.

5. In clear weather, polarizer can increase color saturation, while in cloudy weather, medium gray gradient mirror is suitable.

6. Close to the theme. The closer you get to the subject, the more dramatic the picture will be.

7. Check the pictures carefully and don't take irrelevant pictures, such as your feet and tripod legs.

8. Use a tripod when shooting scenery.

I believe that after practice and running-in of equipment, everyone can also appreciate the fun of wide-angle shooting.