The downside of ultra-wide angle for landscapes

Monday 26 May 2025, 16:32 by Nando Harmsen | 2,809 views | 0 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Many photographers still think of wide-angle or ultra-wide-angle lenses for landscape photography. But that is not always the best choice. It is often better to zoom in a little more. More in the frame is not necessarily better.

With a wide-angle or ultra-wide-angle lens, you can get a lot into the frame. Not only in width, but also in height. This means you need to pay close attention to your composition. A foreground is essential, as are the distance to the subject and the background.

With 15mm on full frame, you can get close to the foreground. But the background is shown small. You can no longer see any detail in it. In addition, with this composition, the sky fills a large part of the frame. It adds little.
Everything in the distance appears very small in the frame. Although you can technically 'capture' more of the landscape in the photo, the details disappear. They are too small, so you can no longer see them. That can be a shame.

Less is more. That saying certainly applies to landscape photography. It can pay to zoom in a little more, so you start to see more detail. Even though you get less in the frame, you see more in the photo. The details become visible.

Do you think that you can no longer include a foreground in the photo? Then you are mistaken. Take a step back and that foreground can be included perfectly in the composition. Give it a try.

There is still a foreground, but now with more detail in the background. There is also less boring sky in the photo. That is a plus. This was taken with a 30mm focal length on full frame.
Although wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lenses can certainly be used well in landscape photography, it remains very difficult to take beautiful photos with them. The situation needs to be suitable. So be careful. Choose a slightly longer focal length more often.

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