Landscape photography tip: try going out with a prime lens

Thursday 21 January 2021, 20:02 by Nando Harmsen | 4,291 views | 2 comments

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

Most photographers use a zoom lens. It is convenient. But zooming can also work against you, or even make you lazy. Try going out with a prime lens. It will force you to look at your landscape in a completely different way.

Do you always use a zoom lens for your landscape photography? That is perfectly understandable. It gives you the option to change your angle of view, allowing you to influence the composition of your landscape photo. A zoom lens offers many great possibilities for your photography.

At the same time, a zoom lens can also limit your creativity. This is because you have so much choice in focal length. It does give you the option to get the relationship between your subject and background exactly as you want it, but it does not force you to look at a landscape in a different way.

Photographed with a prime lens (Fujifilm X100t), forcing you to look differently.
By choosing a prime lens from time to time, you impose limitations on yourself. You have just one angle of view available, which means you cannot photograph everything in that familiar way. It forces you to look at your subject differently and photograph it in a different way.

So try choosing a 35mm focal length, a 50mm focal length, or even something longer. Go out with it and photograph your landscape that way. You will see that you are forced to leave your comfort zone, which can lead to surprising images.

Photographed with the Fujifilm X100t, a camera with a focal length equivalent to 35mm on full-frame.
Don't have a prime lens? Take your zoom lens and secure the zoom ring at one setting with a piece of tape. That works too, of course.

The Landschapsbijbel, with 101 tips for atmospheric landscape photos

This tip is part of the book Landschapsbijbel, in which I give 101 tips for atmospheric landscape photos. The book, full of beautiful photographs, gives you all the information you need to start creating your own fantastic landscape photos.

Don't have Landschapsbijbel yet? Order it through the order page and buy the book on its own, or at an attractive discount in combination with a Photofacts Academy membership.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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2 comments

Giel Feddes wrote on Tuesday 26 January 2021 at 12:18 | reply
Hello Nando, beautiful photos and a good idea.
I have a Fujifilm X100f in addition to my Nikon set.
I’m going to take it along with me for landscape photography as well.

Kind regards. Giel Feddes
Translated from Dutch.

R.W.O. Stout wrote on Tuesday 26 January 2021 at 15:38 | reply
Thanks Nando for this beautiful article.
I actually always have a zoom lens on the camera, even though I also have a 50 and a 125 mm lens. I'll walk around with one of them sometime.
Translated from Dutch.

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