Lenses are as important - tip 2

Lenses are as Important (and perhaps more important) Than the Camera Itself

What can be simpler than choosing the right lens for the job? You want to photograph a large landscape, you use a wide angle. You want to photograph a faraway detail, you use a telephoto lens. You want to photograph something in between the two, you use a normal lens. What more is there to the subject? Case done, book closed, let’s move on.

So what is there to know about lens choice that you don’t already know? Well, for one, and this is a big “one”, which lens you use should be based on how you want to depict the scene in front of you. In other words, and to go back to my first article in this series “Seeing Photographically” the lens you use should be chosen so that it first follows your vision and, second, suits the composition you want to create.

In this article, Part 3 of my Aesthetics and photography series, we are going to look very carefully at why learning how to choose the best lens for a specific composition is one of the most challenging decisions you will make on your way to creating top-quality images.