Consent in Photography – What to Think About When Photographing People

 Tags: Consent, Photographing Children, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography

 

By: Hannele Luhtasela-el Showk

You might not think about it, but as a photographer, you possess a certain power over the people you photograph. In her well-known book On Photography, Susan Sontag wrote:

”To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s mortality, vulnerability, mutability.”

Photographing someone exposes them to scrutiny, both by others and by themselves. The photographer captures a representation of the person which may be very different from how they see themselves; it’s a representation made by someone else. This is not a bad thing or a good thing, but it is the basis for this discussion about consent in photography.

What is consent in photography?

People have a basic right to integrity, to make their own decisions about their bodies. Consent is someone’s agreement for another person to do something that would violate their integrity if it were done without their approval. For instance, we can consent to take part in a medical examination, joining a dance, or performing on stage, all of which would be wrong for someone to force us to do.

So how is this relevant to you? When do you need to ask for consent in photography, and how is it done?

 

Consent in photography

When it comes to photography, the absence of consent usually isn’t about a direct physical violation. It’s (fortunately) rare for someone to be dragged into a studio against their will or forced to pose. The legal and ethical issues have more to do with the ”aggression” of the act itself, the right to privacy, and also to some extent the control the person may want to have over how they’re represented.

Even if you may not have considered it in those terms, you’ve probably encountered the question of consent if you’ve ever taken photos of other people, especially if you do street photography. For example, maybe you’ve considered whether to photograph people kissing or taken a photo and received an annoyed or angry expression in return.

When considering consent, you need to keep in mind both the making of the photograph and its publication.

For instance, imagine that you’ve been hired to photograph a wedding reception. The consent in these situations is often implied, meaning that even if you’re an outsider in a private space at a private occasion, you can assume that photographing the guests is okay unless they specifically ask you not to. However, this implied consent does not extend to publication on your website or anywhere else, so you’ll have to ask for explicit consent from photographed persons before publishing those photos.

When do you need to ask for consent?

Photographing children and consent.

Legalities

Laws obviously differ from country to country, so you should familiarize yourself with the laws concerning photography in your country or where you travel. For many places, you can find handy summaries of your legal rights as a photographer.

In general, it’s legal to take and publish photographs in and from a public space without asking, whereas taking photographs in a private space requires consent. Selling a photograph usually requires consent from the persons in the picture. If you’re unsure or traveling to a foreign country, it’s always worth looking up the rules.

Ethics

Apart from the legal aspect, there is also an ethical one. This one is up to you and your values. Do you feel it’s okay to take a picture of a child playing on a beach or publish a series of portraits of people leaving a bar on your website, without asking first?

We all take part in creating the atmosphere and shaping the attitudes of the society we live in or the communities we visit. Thinking about consent makes it easier to decide which photographs are worth making and which ones are not.

Photographing Pride parades and other festivals where people may wish to remain anonymous.

In the end, there’s a spectrum of situations in which you can ask for consent. The range goes from just asking when you’re legally required to do so, to asking every single time you take a photo with a recognizable person in the frame. Don’t expect that doing unto others what you want them to do to you will always work in these situations. People’s attitudes toward being photographed differ a lot between individuals.

Interpreting the law in its least strict sense means you may never need to ask for consent as long as you avoid certain situations, whereas asking every single time will help you avoid unpleasant confrontations. Consent may seem tricky, but in the end, it’s not. All it requires is awareness of the law, knowing your own limits, and respecting the people around you.

Getting consent in practice

So you’ve decided that you are required to or want to ask for consent from someone you’d like to photograph. What does that actually mean? How do you get a person’s consent to photograph them and maybe publish their picture somewhere?

To get written permission to photograph someone and use their photograph, you can use consent forms or a model release.

There aren’t any correct or incorrect forms; you can make your own and include whatever you want in it. However, the form should at least contain the photographed person’s name and what they’re consenting to (being photographed and the photographs being published in a certain place or a specific context).

The purpose and date are good to add, but it’s also good to keep forms simple so there won’t be any question as to whether the person who signs the form understood it or not.

Who do you ask for consent?

Implied consent

Implied consent is when you can assume that the subject is okay with being photographed without explicit written or oral permission. This requires that the person understands that they are being photographed and that they react in a way that implies that they’re okay with it.

As a paid event photographer, you can often assume that the guests know that they may be photographed and that they’ll approach you if they don’t want to be photographed. You can also put up a clear sign at the venue, identifying you as the photographer and explaining that guests can ask to be avoided in the photos if they wish.

In my experience, it’s very rare that people aren’t okay with being photographed at weddings or other events.

Publishing pictures that were taken at private events often require permission.

There are many consent-related issues to consider in street photography. Tips on how to avoid most issues are presented in this article on how to take an anonymous approach to street photography.

And if you’re unsure, you can always just ask!

Summary

This article is a very general overview of what consent in photography entails, with the intent to inspire you to think about the subject. I have no legal training, so please only use this article as a basis for discussion, and please do add your own ideas to it!

Do you think about consent when you’re making photographs? Which of the photos in this article would you have made sure to get consent for, and which do you think don’t call for consent? Have you ever wished that a photographer had asked before taking a picture of you? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, please add your comments below.

In the end, maybe we can participate not only in the photographed person’s mortality and vulnerability, but also in their pleasant memories, self-confidence, and all the positive sides of mutability.  Share this article.

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Asking Permission to Photograph People

Tags: Permission, Photographing Children, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography

 

 

By: Darren Rowse 

“I’m heading to India next week and am looking forward to using my new DSLR. I’m particularly looking forward to photographing the people I come across but am a bit worried about whether I need to ask permission before photographing them in the street or other public places. Any suggestions?”

Thanks for the question Graham – you’re not the only person asking it. In fact I’ve written on this topic previously but I thought I’d go over my approach to asking permission to photograph people, especially in a foreign country.

Keep in mind that this is my own personal approach and that others do it much differently.1. I always ask for permission if the person will be the main subject of my photo – I figure that I’m a guest in another country and that I want to behave like I’d expect someone to behave if they were in my home – with respect and friendliness.

2. If a person is a minor subject in a larger photo I don’t seek permission – it’s just not logistically possible to ask everyone on a street if you can photograph them!

3. Getting ‘permission’ can mean different things in different situations – often it’s simply a matter of holding up your camera and smiling with a raised eyebrow. Other times you might actually ask but gesturing will usually be sufficient enough to get a nod or a shake of the head. I find that it’s quite rare to get knocked back from a friendly approach.

4. If permission is not given or I’m sensing the other person is not comfortable with my actions I always stop and politely move on. I’ve found that in come cultures people say yes just to be polite but don’t really want you to take their shot. If I’m getting these vibes I stop immediately.

5. Before you travel do some research on what is and isn’t acceptable culturally – last time I traveled I was amazed to see how many people in the tour group I was with who had no clues about the culture they were visiting. As a result they often dressed and acted very inappropriately and annoyed a lot of locals by breaking social taboos. While this isn’t directly related to taking photos it does have an impact upon those you meet along the way that you might wish to photograph.

6. Smiling at the person and maintaining strong eye contact before, during and after taking your photo does wonders – for starters it helps with getting permission, then it helps them relax and lastly it shows your appreciation and that you value the person. Show a genuine interest in the other person, their life and what they’re doing and you’ll not only get a great shot but you’ll leave a positive feeling with the person – you might even learn a thing or two and make a new friend.

7. If I’m watching a performance or show where photography is allowed I don’t ask permission of individuals – I figure they’re doing it for some sort of payment and are used to it.

8. If photographing children I take extra care to get permission from a parent where there is one present. I think photographers need to be particularly careful in this area.

9. I don’t pay or tip people for photographs – I know many photographers do this but it’s something I’m not comfortable with. I do travel with little gifts from home (toys, pens, badges etc) which I like to give to people I meet along the way but don’t use these as ‘payments’ or bribes as such.

10. Don’t travel in a large group – One of the keys that I’ve found to getting good street photos of people is to travel in small groups or (when it’s safe to do so) alone. There’s something about a large group, all carrying cameras, coming up to a person that is very overwhelming. If I am traveling with a larger group I tend to hang back on the edges of the group and look for my own opportunities.

As I’ve written before – “Keep in mind what you’d feel like if a stranger walked up to you in your neighborhood and asked for a photograph and act in a way that you’d want to be treated in that kind of situation.” 

 

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How to Take Portraits – 19 Portrait Photography Tutorials

 Tags: Photographing Children, Photographing Babies,  Portrait Photography, Photographers,

 

By: Darren Rowse

Do you want to improve your portrait photography?

Man’s Beauty by Milenko ?ilas on 500px

Today I spent time digging through the Digital Photography School archives (there are now over 600 tutorials and articles) and noticed that we’ve covered the topic of Portrait Photography from a large variety of angles. I thought it would be useful to list some of the more popular portrait photography tips all in the one place.

I’ve chosen 19 of our most popular portrait photography articles and have assembled them below.

So if you’re interested in improving your portrait photography – grab a cup of coffee, set aside a little time and enjoy. If you enjoy these make sure you subscribe to get more via email or RSS.

How to Take Portraits – 19 Portrait Photography Tutorials from Our Archives

1. 10 Tips to Take Stunning Portraits

This recent post (one of the most popular that we’ve ever published on DPS) gives 10 fairly general tips on how to take portraits with the ‘wow factor’.

It’s all about adding variety to your portraits by doing things like altering your perspective, adding a prop, experimenting with eye contact and getting your subject out of their comfort zone (to name just a few).

It picks up ideas found in many of the following tutorials and would make a great place to start if you’re looking for an introduction to the topic.

2. 10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

In this followup to the last tutorial we extend the idea of adding variety to your shots.

It explores framing, wide angle lenses, backgrounds and experimenting with focusing.

All in all this post takes this mini series to 20 portrait photography techniques that have been read by hundreds of thousands.

I’d love to hear any thoughts you’d have on other techniques that you use to add variety to portraits in the comments on this post.

3. Give Your Subject Space to Look Into

This technique is basic but can have a real impact upon your shots.

Framing your portraits so that your subject has room to look into gives a shot balance and helps draw the eye of those viewing the image into the image.

Try it for yourself – but don’t forget, sometimes ‘rules’ like this one can be broken with great effect also – so experiment with that too!

4. 4 Quick Tips for Portraits

I Love picking the brains of professional photographers and this is what I did in this post in which a portrait photographer shared with me four parts of his shooting workflow.

The tips are simple yet effective – I particularly like the way that he shoots from slightly under the eye line of your subject – a technique that will cause a little interesting debate in the comments of this post.  Share this article.

Drop by and tell us what you think!

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Model Releases: Working with People on the Streets

Tags: Street Photography, Portrait Photography, Model Releases, Photographers, 

 

By: Christina N Dickson

Today portrait photographer Christina Dickson looks at the topic of Model Releases and gives some tips on photographing people in public spaces.

1. Be friendly: Find a common discussion topic. Sometimes the easiest way to feel out a potential portrait subject is by striking up a conversation with them about a relatable subject. Good coffee. The behavior of a neighboring pedestrian. The weather. Let people see you as a genuinely interested individual and you can’t go wrong.

2. Have a purpose before asking permission: If you are going to shoot portraits on the street, its’ best to have a reason you can give explanation for. Without question, people will ask why you want their picture. “Just because” simply won’t suffice. When I was shooting, I was up front about why I wanted to take someone’s portrait; I needed portraits for a project on the street culture of Portland. Most often, I received very receptive responses.

3. Acquiring model release forms: It wasn’t difficult getting street people to sign model releases for the Revolutionary Media project. I simply took the time to explain the parameters of the release and people were generally at ease with the idea. Once again, if you have a valid purpose and reason you can give explanation for, you should not have trouble getting permission.

If you want to use your portraits for print, promotion, sale, or posting, it’s important to cover yourself legally. Model release forms are a safe way to keep your bases covered. One easy way to receive model releases is to make an exchange: they can get the picture to give to family, and you can use it for your purposes also.

Generally, a stranger-friendly model release should include: Name, contact information, email, and signature. You should also be sure to describe the parameters of your usage. For the Revolutionary Media project, we included: consent to use their photographic likeness for advertising, distribution, print, and sales.

In summary, photography on the streets should be extremely personable. Take the time to converse, to show genuine interest, and the strangers you meet will be more than agreeable to become your subjects. Share this article.

“Does my butt look big in this?” – What Clothes to Wear in Portraits

Tags:

Portrait Photography, Posed Photography, Photographers,  

 

By: Darren Rowse 

What Should I Wear in my portrait?

This is a question I get asked a lot by clients – so I thought it might be something that was worth some exploration in a tutorial.

The clothes a person wears in a portrait can have a big impact upon the end result of your image. When talking to a subject about what to wear I generally ask them to bring a few different outfits so that we can have a little variety to work with.

A few things to keep in mind:

1. The Comfort of your Subject is Important – Sometimes…

One of the challenges of photographing someone that you might not know very well is helping them to relax. I find that the clothes that they wear and the environment that you’re photographing them can have a big impact upon how relaxed they are and how natural they look. If they are happy with how they look then you’ll have a good chance of capturing them looking themselves.

Having said that – sometimes the best shots are of people when they are slightly ‘on edge’ or out of their comfort zone.

 

I can’t really explain it – but I’ve had some real luck in choosing outfits for people that they might not necessarily have chosen for themselves.

Sometimes throwing a curve ball at your subject in this way can take them slightly out of their comfort zone and dressing in something that is different to what they usually wear will get you a ‘wow’ shot.

For example – I recently photographed a young entrepreneur who told me that he was most comfortable in fairly casual clothes. I told him to bring a few options and as I suspected he turned up with two pairs of jeans and two hoodies.

I predicted this might be the case so had brought one of my own suit jackets and a white shirt from home and after photographing him in his outfits asked him if he’d mind me taking a few shots in the shirt and suit jacket.

At first he was skeptical but something happened when he put on my outfit – he became someone else and presented to the camera in a more confident manner. He later told me that he was also amazed how the change of clothes made him feel a little more special.

It was the shots in my outfit that he ended up using.

2. Clothes Can Put People into Context

As much as we all like to talk about not judging a book by it’s cover and getting to know the ‘real person’ before summing them up – a person’s outward appearance says a lot about who they are and what we think of them.

The clothes that a subject wears in a shot will convey meaning and tell those viewing the image something about the person. So think carefully about what you’re trying to achieve with the image and let this be communicated through the clothes that you suggest your subject wears.

ie – if you’re after a fun vibe in your shot let them get a little casual and crazy with their clothes. If you’re wanting to portray them in a more formal way dress them that way.

3. Dark and Plain Clothes

While I generally let my subject choose a few outfits for themselves I almost always ask them to include a darker top in their options.

There’s something about a simple, dark top that allows the real focus of an image to be the persons face. An added bonus of dark clothes is that they tend to be slimming also (so your butt might not look big after-all).

As I looked back over my portfolio recently realized that the majority of portraits that I’d selected to show off my work were of people in fairly plain and unobtrusive clothes. No crazy patterns, lines, dots or bright colors – just understated basics that allowed the person to shine.

One exception to the black/dark top rule is that it can depend upon the complexion of the person. A very fair complexion with a very dark top can be too much of a contrast and when shooting someone with dark skin tones dark clothing can mean not enough contrast.

Another exception to this rule can be with kids whose portraits can come alive when you introduce some nice bright colors. The key however is to watch out for when the bright colors include zany patterns.

The last exception is when I’m photographing groups – everyone in black can look a little somber – but groups are a whole other topic.

4. Collars

Another quick tip which I base upon my portfolio – collared shirts can be an effective thing to have your subjects wear.

I’ve not put a lot of thought into why they work – but particularly when photographing men, I find that a collared shirt has a way of framing the face that can be quite flattering.

I wouldn’t say collars are essential for every shot (I’ve taken plenty of good shots of guys in non collared shirts and T-Shirts) – however there’s something about them that just ‘works’ – at least in my mind.

5. Long Sleeves and Pants

Lastly – I also like to avoid short sleeved tops or shorts.

When arms and legs are exposed and there’s lots of skin visible I find that it can be a distraction from the main focal point of the photo – the face. That one is just a personal preference though and I’m not even sure why it is that I like to do it that way.

What do You Think?

That’s my approach – what is your view on what clothes you prefer your subjects to wear?

Is it more important to you for your subject to be comfortable or is your style to put them in an outfit that will add something special to the shot.

I am interested to hear your ideas in comments below!

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Photographing Babies – Zoom in

Tags: Photographing Children, Photographing Babies,  Posed Photography, Photographers,

 

By: Darren Rowse

In my last post I talked about photographing children and gave a few tips for taking photos of babies.

After posting it I was scrolling back through some of my old photos from some shoots I’d done with children and was reminded of another technique that is especially effective when taking photos of young babies who can be difficult to photograph because they are too young to do much other than lay there with little expression on their faces (unless you’re lucky enough to capture the moment when they get gas which can look like a smile of course).

The technique that produced some of the shots with babies that I found most parents responded well to were those shots where I isolated just one part of the baby.

For example the photo to the left focuses in on this little boy’s feet. His parents loved this shot (and a series of others I took of his hands, ears, nose etc). They now hang as a series along their entrance hall in their home as an eye catching feature.

Zooming in on part of the whole accentuates the smallness and detail of their little body parts and is especially effective for very newborn babies.

To do this effectively it might be worth working with your digital camera in macro mode (or investing in a macro lens if you have a DSLR – I use this one on my Canon). It can also be very effective to play with the colors in these shots (black and white or sepia shots can accentuate the mood and emotion that little hands and feet evoke).

One last tip – another variation on this theme is to include the hands of the parents in these shots. Images like the following one use this very effectively, once again highlighting the smallness of the baby in comparison to their parent.

 

 

Photographing Children – Composition

 

 Tags: Photographing Children, Photographing Babies,  Posed Photography, Photographers,

 

 

By: Darren Rowse 

I thoroughly enjoy photographing children and have opportunity to do quite a bit of it lately after many of our friends have had babies.

Probably the most important tip I’ve learned in photographing them is to get on their level. So many of my friends show me photos of their kids which are taken from 4 or so feet above the child which does nothing but dwarf them and make them look almost toy-like.

Getting on your hands and knees or crouching down before you take a shot of a child takes you into their world and helps you to engage with them through the images you take.

Photographing Babies

Babies are particularly difficult to photograph because they are so immobile. I find that one of the best ways to get good shots of them is to put them on a baby rug and too literally lie down next to them with your camera right on the floor. In this way you’re looking directly into their big beautiful eyes and it puts the viewer of the photo in the unique perspective of an eye to eye place. If the child has the ability to lift it’s head the effects can be amazing as you almost find yourself looking UP into their eyes.

Photographing Older Children
The same principle of getting down low applies with older children although you do have a little less lying on the floor with them when they are at an age of walking.

I particularly find that with older children the best time to photograph them is when they are doing something that they enjoy. Go to the park with them and their parents, visit their house when they are painting pictures, get them to take you on a tour of their room or take them out to play their favorite sport.

While they are doing their activity hover around (at their level) and take plenty of shots. Also include shots with them and their parents and keep an eye open for those candid moments when they fall over, do funny expressions or ham it up for the camera.

If your camera has a continuous shooting mode it might also be worth keeping that on with bigger kids who tend to move around more. As I look back at the times I’ve done this it’s quite interesting to see that it’s often the second or third shot in a sequence that is best. Shooting just one frame at a time can mean you miss these golden opportunities.

Another benefit of continuous shooting is that you can end up with a great series of shots that might go nicely together to tell a story

 

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Shot from a footbridge on Connaught Ro

How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

Tags: City Photography, Cityscape, Focal Length, Zoom, Posed Photography, Photographers, 

 

By: Joey J 

As an avid cityscape photography enthusiast (primarily shooting at the blue hour), I always spend quite a number of hours studying potential cityscape shooting spots before traveling to a new destination. Knowing everything from what to shoot, where to shoot from and how to get to those locations before departure will save you a ton of time and hassle, especially if your stay is rather short.

You can always start this location study with the obvious (Google!), but there are also other resources that help you find photography spots. Those are Flickr, 500px, stock photography websites, and photography forums to name but a few.

Personally, Flickr is my go-to resource, as there are more than 10 billion photos (according to their 2015 stats) and numerous groups dedicated to many big and small cities around the world. You can ask questions and possibly get answered by local photographers.

Finding what to shoot is a piece of cake. 10 minutes browsing Flickr gives you a number of potential locations. You may argue that those places are over-photographed or that you’re just copying what others have already photographed. But as a first-time visitor, I’m happy to start with the most popular locations because they are over-photographed for a reason.

Finding Out Where a Photo Was Shot

The next up is finding where to shoot from (i.e. The exact spot where the photo was shot) but this can be much harder. Sometimes the photo has a clue in itself, such as a name of the building (e.g. hotel name). Then, just get onto Google Maps and do a virtual walk around the area using Street View.

Let’s use Hong Kong, the city that never stops fascinating me with its amazing cityscapes, as a case study for this article. For the photo below, I shot from a footbridge on Connaught Road Central, finding the name of the building on the left (International Finance Centre) eventually led me to locate the exact shooting spot (see on Google Maps) after virtual-walking around a lot on Google Street View.

Try Your Luck Asking Photographers Directly

On other occasions, this crucial piece of info (the shooting location where the photo was taken) can be found in the title or description of the photo. If not, check through the comments to see whether anyone has already asked this particular question.

What I’ve found interesting is that there are photographers who normally reply to comments but somehow don’t respond to this type of question asking where it was shot. It might be because they are not really happy to share that information with a complete stranger trying to shortcut their way to an epic shooting spot they discovered by themselves (possibly by walking around for hours).

That said, there is no harm in asking. The worst thing that could happen is that you receive no response.

Author’s note: If you ask me about cityscape shooting spots in Singapore (where I live), I won’t hold anything back. I’m happy to provide all the info you need!

Asking in Flickr Groups

In case you’re hesitant about asking the photographer directly, you can also try asking in a Flickr group. Once I found a nice Hong Kong street photo with a street name included in the description. So I got onto Google Street View and moved up and down the street, but couldn’t locate exactly where the photo was shot.

As I saw this particular photographer not responding to any comments at all, I went into a Hong Kong group within Flickr and asked whether anyone knows the exact location by including the street photo in my question. Then, a fellow photographer kindly responded with the answer, which led me to shoot the photo below (shot from a footbridge over Paterson Street Tram Station, see on Google Maps).

Use Google Maps to Find Directions from Your Hotel

Lastly, let’s talk about how to get to those newly found amazing locations. Accessing directions have never been easier these days, thanks to Google Maps.

Prior to the trip, get onto Google Maps and find the directions starting from your hotel. To record the route, take a screenshot or copy the link from your browser’s address bar so that you will be able to revisit the page using hotel’s WiFi later.

This may not be commonly known, but Google Maps also lets you save a short URL of the directional map. Just go to “Menu”, then click “Share or embed map” and check “Short URL”. You can also save maps for offline use as well if you don’t want to incur roaming charges and can’t access any WiFi.

Saving a di.

List Photography Spots in Order of Priority

Let’s say I’m traveling for a 5-day, 4-night stay. Then, I’ll make a list of four cityscape photography spots to shoot at dusk. Plus I’ll add one or two backup spots just in case any of the original choices are unexpectedly unavailable due to a special event taking place or something. I select only one spot per day, as I’m only interested in shooting cityscapes during evening blue hour and try to gather as much information as possible before traveling.

It’s also important to list them in order of priority so that you know which place to drop if you can’t shoot on the first evening due to heavy rain, for example. In fact, such a situation often happens, so you should establish a clear order of priority for your shot list in advance.

Consider Revisiting: You Learn Something New Every Time You Go Back

Up until this point, I’ve talked about the importance of pre-departure preparations such as knowing where to shoot from. However, it’s also true that a single visit may not be enough to let you go home with best possible photos unless you’re staying for weeks. If you’re only staying for 4-5 days like I typically do, you may get unlucky with the weather and not be able to capture any photos that you’re happy with.

If that’s the case, consider revisiting the destination! The great thing about revisiting the same place is that you learn something new every time you go back, such as discovering lesser-known photography spots, finding a faster way to move around, etc. Besides, you can try new restaurants and coffee shops alike, and after a few visits, you’ll be able to walk around the city like a local!

I hope this helps you with your pre-departure search on what to shoot, where to shoot from, and how to get to those locations. These tips are quite basic, but it’s almost a prerequisite in order not to waste your precious (but limited) time at the destination, especially for those of us traveling only for a few days.

If you have any other cityscape photography tips to share, please do so in the comments below.  Share this article.

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How to Use Still-life Subjects to Understand Focal Lengths

 

 Tags: 

Focal Length, Zoom, 100mm,  Posed Photography, Photographers, 

 

By: Ana Mireles

Do you think that using an 18mm lens or a 100mm one will only zoom in or out your scene? Why are camera lenses are measured in millimeters? Do you know what those measurements mean for your photo? If you’re not sure which lens to use and why I invite you to keep reading and learn about focal lengths and how to use them.

The most common consideration when choosing your lens is whether or not you need to zoom in or zoom out. Therefore logic dictates that you would use a wide-angle lens for landscape photography and a telephoto for a detail of that landscape. Another well-known factor is the distortion of wide-angle lenses, so for example, if you want to do a portrait you would instead use a normal or a telephoto lens.

But how about shooting objects or photographing still life subjects? Which lens is better? I’ll use this subject to illustrate the characteristics of different focal lengths that normally get less attention.

What is focal length?

When light comes in through the lens, it passes through a small hole called a nodal point. The distance from that point to the sensor when your lens is set to infinity is called the focal length and this is measured in millimeters. A smaller distance gives you a wider angle of view and that’s why it’s called a wide-angle lens. Therefore a bigger distance gives you a narrower angle of view which is called a telephoto lens.

What is normal?

When you say a normal lens, it means that it will see more or less the same angle of view as the human eye. Anything longer than the normal focal length is a telephoto and everything shorter is a wide-angle lens. This measurement depends on the size of your sensor because the measure of its diagonal is what determines “normal” for that camera.

For example, in analog photography, it was a very standard measure because there were only so many negative film formats. A 35mm film had a normal lens of 50mm, this can be translated into digital cameras that have a full frame sensor because it’s about the same size as 35mm film. If you have a cropped sensor camera, that “normal” lens becomes a telephoto.

Left – longer lens more zoomed in. Right – wider lens more zoomed out.

Why is this important?

As I mentioned before, zooming in or out is the most obvious impact of the focal length. But what happens when you are shooting something where you can achieve that by getting closer or further from your subject? How do you choose your lens? Well, that’s where the other characteristics of the focal length come into play.

Compression

A photograph is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional world. By changing the focal length you can compress or extend the distance between two objects, or between the subject and the background. Let me show you with a series of images taken of the same scene but with different focal lengths.

I put a measuring tape next to the objects so that you have a reference and see that they were separated by the same distance even if it doesn’t look like it in the various images.

18mm lens.

35mm lens.

55mm lens.

Notice how the distance between the shells seems to change. With wide-angle lenses, things will seem further apart from each other, compared to how they look with a telephoto lens. Now, you probably also perceived another difference between the images, and that is the focus. Which brings me to the second characteristic.

Depth of field

As you probably know, the depth of field (area in focus) depends on the aperture. A small aperture gives you a greater depth of field than a big one. But there is another factor involved and that is the focal length.

A wide-angle lens appears to have a greater depth of field than a telephoto at the same aperture. It is a common misconception that wide-angles have more depth of field than longer lenses. The reason it appears so has to do with the subject to camera distance, not focal length.

This effect is intensified by the fact that you will be physically closer or further away with each lens to achieve the same framing. Allow me to illustrate with this photos in which I maintained the same aperture but changed the focal length.

180mm

160mm

100mm

55mm

35mm

18mm

See how the photo taken with a 180mm lens has such a shallow depth of field that the blurry background even creates a halo that comes over the sharp focus subject. After that, each image got greater and greater depth of field by using smaller focal lengths.

In conclusion, there is no such thing as the best lens for the type of photography you are doing. It really depends on the results you want to get.  Share this article.

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