The Photographer's Eye: Graphic Guide

TELEPHOTO COOLNESS

Just as you can use a wide-angle lens to push your way into a scene, you can also go in the opposite direction and step backward, switch to a telephoto, and be a fly on the wall—an objective observer. Some people see this as a defect of the telephoto lens (as in street photography, just mentioned on the preceding pages), but it’s really a matter of mood and personal taste. Not everyone likes being thrust into other people’s faces, and if you want to stand across the street and quietly observe at your leisure, perhaps drinking a coffee in a sidewalk café, a telephoto lens is the way to go. In fact, I used to call my old 180mm lens my “across-the-street” lens. Don’t pay any attention if someone criticizes you for being too shy ...