Great Escape Publishing

Posted May 9th, 2016 by Bonnie Caton & filed under Travel Photography.

Are you using the lenses you have to the best of their ability?

For example, a lot of people have a wide-angle lens amongst their photography gear, but sometimes it’s tricky to know exactly when to dig it out.

A lens is considered “wide-angle” at 35mm or below. So if your lens goes down to 24mm or 18mm, you’ve got a wide-angle on your hands.

Of course, wide lenses are great at capturing big landscapes and expansive views. But they are also useful for so much more!

With a wide lens you can:

Photograph in small spaces and intimate settings…
Create a sense of connection by getting close to your subject while still showing the environment…
Accentuate lines, shapes, and patterns that are in the foreground, close to the lens.

With a wide-angle, whenever you get close to your subject, it becomes LARGE in the frame, while still showing the surroundings. For example, the photographer got close to this pig’s snout with a wide-angle, and you can still see the rest of the pig:

It also allows you to stand in one place and take in a TON of the scene:

Or get a new perspective on a typical scene:

Wide lenses take some practice to use to their full potential, but it’s really worth spending a little time to learn, practice, and experiment.

This month’s Breakfast Stock Club Premium Challenge, “Going Wide,” gives tons of examples of stock photos taken with wide-angle lenses.

Premium Members — get your Roadmap on your Premium Member page and get your one wide-angle photo in for a chance at a professional review!

If you’re not a Premium Member, yet, you can try it out — and get in on the current Challenge — here.

Once you get the hang of shooting wide, you’ll be able to add some really fun and unique looking shots to your stock photo portfolios that wouldn’t be possible any other way.

Give it a try!

Editor’s Note: Learn more about getting started selling your photos online in stock agencies – no matter how much or little photography experience you have – in the Breakfast Stock Club e-newsletter. It’s once a week, and it’s free to join, here.