Help on shooting wide

eoren1

I just received my Canon 10-22 lens and mated it to the 50D. Went out for some shots around town to get a feel for having a truly wide lens. Ended up with some fairly boring shots and was hoping for some advice on how to compose for such wide shots.
A few from today:






Granted, a more interesting sky would probably have provided some balance but I'm struggling with whether a wide landscape would work on its own or really needs something in the foreground to set it off.

Greatly appreciate any and all pointers:D
E

pathfinder

We haven't talked much about wide angle technique lately.

I suspect many new photographers find telephotos far easier to use well, than real wide angles at first. Teles let you stand back and zoom in on your subject without getting your feet wet, stepped on, or set on fire.

Wide angles demand that you wade in up to your armpits, get wet, get sweaty, get real close. So close you can smell your picture.

I think good wide angle shots need a good strong subject near the front of the frame, and the wide background must relate to the subject in some manner. David Muench is renowned for this. So is Marc Muench. Take a gander at "Primal Forces" by David and Marc Muench. In the back of the book the lenses used for each image are listed, so you can pick out the wide angle shots to think about.

Sometime we just use wide angles because we cannot back any further back to let us capture the view with a normal lens. This is ok of course, but does not always create the most compelling image.

Photojournalists use wide angles because they are so close to the action sometimes, and a wide angle allows them to preset the aperture and know that everything will be in focus.

Since the angle of view is so wide, you have to be very careful when composing, as small movements of your viewpoint will cause big changes in what is included in your image. Your job as a photographer is to compose order out of chaos when looking through your viewfinder, and wide angles are inherently more chaotic with their wider view.

Rutt and I and others had a long thread about wide angle usage a few years ago. I think it is still worthwhile.

Here is a wide angle of mine - I wanted to show a view of a covered bridge that is not usually seen or displayed -- 31mm on a full frame camera.

eoren1

Thanks Pathfinder- for the comments and the link. That is an oldie but a goodie

I'm not sure what I expected from this lens but I definitely did not expect it to be this hard to get a decent shot! I was just looking for some more breathing room in my landscapes than the 18-55 kit lens could offer me. It seems that I'm going to need to put in a LOT more thought and planning into properly composing these shots. We'll have to see what the next few weeks bring...

Now if anyone else would like to help out with some of their ultra-wide angle shots/advice (10-16 on a crop camera, 16-25 on FF), it would be greatly appreciated.

E

dlplumer

Here is one of my first attempts with the 10-22. I shot this within a few feet of this 20 ft giant

eoren1

Alright...I think I'm starting to get it
Played with the 10-22 around the house and around town. This is starting to be fun












And Pathfinder, you're right...this lens really begs for you to get CLOSE and become involved in the photograph

Would still love to see more ultra wide shots/examples so please post more.

E

pathfinder

I am glad to have helped. I think these photos are much better, they invite the viewer in to look at the subject, and then to stay a while longer and enjoy the surroundings. Well done! Shooting people wide has to be done carefully as you can really distort the ratios between ears, noses and eye sizes if you aren't careful. You did a splendid job!

I do not consider myself a good wide angle shooter, I tend to the macro, tele viewpoint more often. I do shoot them from time to time though, I am still proud of my deer foot prints from the other thread I linked to.

By my current standards it has lots of failings - I shot it as a jpg and the snow is almost blown in many areas, but I did know that it would need to be a wide angle shot, and got down on my knees in the snow, with the lens about 6-12 inches from the foot prints as they lead the viewer's eye into and across the bridge.




Here's one I did more recently 20mm on a full frame body. I wanted the viewer to see and recognize the discarded TV set in the fore ground, and its bizarre appearance in this setting.



Here is a 17mm shot with a converted Digital Rebel - the wide angle allows me to enlarge the statue and minify the monument in the background so that they can both be framed comfortably in the image.





21mm Zeiss sunstar last fall in Arches



Come'on guys, there's gotta be more wide shooters around than us two. Show us some of your wide wares!

sherijohnson

I just got a wide angle lens for my 50D.... so once I get out and start doing some shooting with it, I will see what I come up with. It's not as wide as your lens, but it sure is a lot wider than what I was working with and I already have seen the difference shooting some indoor test shots.

dlplumer

10 mm

JohnBiggs

My first 3 or so shots in this gallery are wide angle. I don't have time to figure out how to post them directly.

http://www.biggstudios.com/gallery/6294351_vhkSq

eoren1

John - great shots...really like the 3rd one!

Dan - nice cacti!! we'll have to see what this lens can do in Acadia

Pathfinder - thanks for the images and the kick in the pants to get closer

E

denisegoldberg

pathfinder wrote:

Wide angles demand that you wade in up to your armpits, get wet, get sweaty, get real close. So close you can smell your picture.

It took me a while to "get" this when I first used my 10-22mm lens. I realized that I finally understood when I found myself actually standing in the ocean on a cold day, camera to my eye. I didn't mean to go into the water, but my camera pulled me there...

eoren1 -
It looks like you're in Massachusetts now, don't know if you've discovered Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. It's on Plum Island, just out of Newburyport, and it's gorgeous. If you're interested, some wide-angle shots from a wander there on that warm Sunday in late December are in this gallery - http://www.denisegoldberg.com/gallery/6945865_SPWcr.

--- Denise

pathfinder

Thanks Denise.

I didn't realize that Plum Island is open to the public, all I knew about Plum Island was from Nelson Demille's book "Plum Island"

Your gallery of wide angle seascapes is quite lovely.

denisegoldberg

pathfinder wrote:

I didn't realize that Plum Island is open to the public, all I knew about Plum Island was from Nelson Demille's book Plum Island.

Thanks for your compliment on my gallery.

Interesting thing is that the beach in the National Wildlife Refuge is not open for a chunk of the year. From the Parker River web site:

Each year the entire 6.3 miles (10.1 kilometers) of refuge beach is closed to all public entry beginning April 1 to provide undisturbed nesting and feeding habitat for the piping plover, a shorebird species threatened with extinction. Portions of the beach not being used by the birds may be reopened beginning July 1. Typically all sections are reopened by mid-late August.

But there is a beach to the north that is open year-round.

--- Denise

frel

pathfinder wrote:

Come'on guys, there's gotta be more wide shooters around than us two. Show us some of your wide wares!

Alright I give it a shot even though I may not be as talented as your are I actually enjoy wide angle. Initially it was just because I got bored to have always people in front of me - and shooting at 10-20 is the best way to be the guy in front - but it is also the fact that you have to get involved in the picture which grew in me more and more. For exif details click the pictures

This one is the typical "I am the guy in front" I was exactly at the foot of the status and still was able to capture the whole thing


Next is in the same spirit but I don't think you can do this shot with a tele anyway but as a side effect I was kind of right on the street close to the ground which is a good place to die


Finally one of the first shot I made with this lens that illustrate that it is generally better to get closer. In this shot I was concerned to keep the lens straight to limit distortion but forgot that with 10mm you have to get closer than with 50mm. Result as you can see is a lot of space lost


Of course a simple crop can resolve that, perspective and/or lens distortions on the other hand is sometimes tricky to resolve and it is better to think that through during the shoot than trying to solve it in post processing based on my experience

This was my 2 cents

Swartzy

Ok....here are a few..... These are with the 10-22 on a 40D. The first one......I was on the edge....yea, my behind was puckerin

#1



#2 Inside Antelope Caynon at about 14mm



#3 Well, a portrait photographer on a landscape mission...what'dya expect

coscorrosa

I think the biggest key with wide angle shots is to have an interesting foreground (either have an interesting object in the foreground itself, or a leading line from the foreground to an object in the background). Often to do this you need to get low to the ground. The natural tendency is to "include everything" but that rarely works out. Also, vertical compositions often work better. And the biggest rule is that there are always exceptions.

Here are a few examples.

pathfinder

Excellent examples of great wide angle shots, Ron!

Good text explanation also!

kdog

Swartzy wrote:

Ok....here are a few..... These are with the 10-22 on a 40D. The first one......I was on the edge....yea, my behind was puckerin

#1

Hmm... I thought Swartzy stole my picture there for a second. Same set up with 40D and 10-22 @10mm. And I dare say, same exact position on the edge within a foot or two.

dlplumer

Love that HDR

eoren1

Wow guys, thanks for the added post.
Swartzy - that shot of the horseshoe is worth the price of the 10-22 alone!
Ron - thanks for the advice and samples. Really great stuff!
E

Swartzy

Holy cow...if that isn't something! Same spot...you had a much better sky......we were there at the crack of dawn...well, actually in the dark until it got light......amazing!

eoren1

Updates from a recent trip
Well, the whole point of buying the ultra wide lens was in anticipation of a trip to the Turks and Caicos. We just returned and I though I would post a few favorites from the 10-22. I also posted a longer trip report in the Journeys forum: link













In fact, for better or worse, most of my shots ended up being with the 10-22...including a few cool ones of the kids

dlplumer

Well done E. I love the next to last shot of your little boy on the beach. Did you purchase the 10-22?

eoren1

Thanks Dan!
That lens does an amazing job on backlit subjects.
I ended up buying it during the Canon instant rebate when I realized it was selling for just a bit more new than what I have seen on dgrin for used ones. In the end, the rental fee didn't seem worth it. Of course, now I can't see myself parting with it...especially with Bar Harbor in the near future
E

f-rider

Ron Coscorrosa, fantastic wide angle shots !!

I just got the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 for my Nikon D80 and am very anxious to try my hand at some super wides. Great suggestions here. I realized in one photo that I did after first mount of the lens, that you can get some really ugly foregrounds because so much more is included in your foreground. You really have to be selective about what is right at your toes, cuz it is going to be in your picture

Allan FG

I recently picked up a Sigma 10-20, here is one I like. BTW everything said about getting close seems to be true to me. It seems that the more I use this lens the more I leave it at 10mm.

f-rider

Nice Dakar. This gives me some ideas for my new Tokina 11-16 and my not so new R1150GS !! Thanks for posting this !

jovitta

here is a wide shot
I have 16-35 2.8, this shot was taken using the 50D, I just got a 5D this week so I love shooting wide so I can't wait to go play with the full size sensor. I am going to Yosemite next month on photo workshop. So I am sure to get a lot of wide shot.

anonymouscuban

Great topic!
First off... Ron, just amazing! I always love your shots.

I too have recently picked up a wide angle... the Tokina 11-16mm to be specific. I never anticipated shooting with a WA would be so challenging. Perspective really shifts and distortion can also change dramatically with a slight shift in your angle. I often get lost when looking through the lens because you capture so much in one shot. However, I am finding that it is my favorite lens to shoot with for these very reasons. I struggle with it but am having fun learning as I go. This thread has already given me some tips to practice.

Here are a few of my shots that I've taken with my WA:

dlplumer

Great WA set cuban Really love that first one.

pathfinder

I agree. That gull in the lower left really anchors that corner!