Capture the Magic

Near/Far

As you will see from the images in this chapter, lens choice controls how and what images communicate. A lens’s effect can either work to reinforce your statement or to weaken it.

Wide-angle lenses have the virtue of providing a line of sharp focus from near to far. Many photographers, however, fail to realize the power of a wide-angle lens because they’re too timid to place the lens right up against their subject. An image’s strength is determined by the camera’s placement in close proximity to the subject, which effectively increases the relative size and impact of the foreground against the background.

I was photographing an extensive growth of barrel cactus in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas and wanted to create an image that would ...