The Enthusiast's Guide to Night and Low-Light Photography

16. LENS CHOICES, OR WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FOCAL LENGTH?

MANY CAMERAS come as a single piece with the lens and camera body as one unit. Your smartphone has a built-in lens, or in some cases, two. The real power of DSLR and mirrorless cameras is their ability to utilize different lenses. You can decide if you want to shoot a scene ultra wide or just capture a tiny sliver of it by choosing a specific lens.

The first compositional choice you make, before you even lift the camera to your eye, is what lens you attach to the camera. I have a favorite focal length and I know a lot of other photographers who do, too, but that doesn’t mean I don’t use any ...