Photographing a forest; wide-angle or telephoto?
Saturday 18 July 2020, 14:41 by Nando Harmsen | 5,989 views | 5 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Since the arrival of digital photography, there has been a strong preference for photographing landscapes with a wide-angle or even ultra-wide-angle lens. The more you could fit in the frame, the better, was the idea behind it. And that is understandable, because you want to capture as much of that beautiful landscape as possible.
A forest can also be a great subject for a landscape photo. With all those trees standing so close together, you may be even more inclined to use a wide-angle lens. And indeed, a wide-angle lens will get more trees in the frame. Yet the forest will seem less dense, and the trees further apart.
We all know the compressing effect of a telephoto lens. Distances seem to be pushed together. With a wide-angle lens, the opposite happens. Distances are pulled apart.
If you take a photo in a forest with a wide-angle lens, this effect will make the distance between the trees appear greater, making the forest look open and accessible. If you use a telephoto lens to photograph a forest, the distance between the trees becomes smaller. This will make the forest look very dense and compact.
You might feel that you will get fewer trees in the photo with a telephoto lens, but because the trees are effectively pushed together, the opposite will happen.
When you photograph in a forest, think about which effect you want to achieve. If you are looking for a photo of a forest with an open character, where the trees are relatively far apart, use a wide-angle lens. If you want a photo of a dense, impenetrable forest, choose a telephoto lens.
There is no right or wrong here, it is a choice you make as a photographer. Not sure which you like best? Take a photo with both a wide-angle and a telephoto lens, then take a good look at them at home.
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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5 comments
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Donald Willemsen
wrote on Sunday 19 July 2020 at 00:17
| reply
Nice article and it’s all correct. But what are you actually doing when you use a wide-angle or a telephoto lens? I think that in that case you’re not showing the actual situation in the photo. After all, the wide-angle has the effect of showing an open forest, while a telephoto does exactly the opposite. So if you want to show the actual situation, you shouldn’t choose a wide-angle or telephoto lens, but for example a 50mm lens (on full frame) or a 35mm on an APS-C sensor.
Translated from Dutch. -
Nando
wrote on Tuesday 21 July 2020 at 09:59
| reply
@Donald,
Translated from Dutch.
You are right about that, but that applies not only to a forest, but to all photography. If you want everything to correspond to how we see it, then you always have to use 50mm and nothing else.
It is more about photographing your subject from your own experience and feeling, in this case capturing the forest as you experience it rather than how it is.
If you walk through a forest and think: "what a dense forest, mysterious and impenetrable," then don't use a wide-angle lens but emphasize that feeling by using a telephoto lens. -
Donald Willemsen
wrote on Tuesday 21 July 2020 at 10:24
| reply
@Nando, you are of course absolutely right. Conveying a feeling that you have when you are there is what photography is all about. Evoking a feeling in the viewer through the photo also plays a role. I only wanted to make clear that 'reality' is manipulated through the use of telephoto, wide-angle and even filters. So what you say is absolutely true. A photo may/must evoke an emotion.
Translated from Dutch. -
Tom Hoekstra wrote on Tuesday 21 July 2020 at 18:53 | replyAlthough I usually have "the wrong lens" with me for the idea that suddenly comes up, in this situation I would make a panoramic photo with the 50mm. Still, the compactness of the forest and as wide as I want without the restriction of the wide angle.
Translated from Dutch. -
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