Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision

Telephoto Lenses

As noted earlier, telephoto lenses, those lenses with a focal length longer than our standard view—usually considered a 70mm lens and higher—share one characteristic: compression. Not only will a 200mm lens make the distant subject closer, it will also make everything in the frame appear closer and tighter, including the gaps in between elements within the frame. The tight angle of view characteristic of the telephoto lens isolates your subject from distractions to the sides, and the compression will pull together your foreground, midground, and background. This is neither a good thing nor a bad thing; it just is. You need to understand the effect, and know when to call it out and use it to accomplish a certain visual purpose ...