Wide-Angle Photography: Capturing Landscape, Portrait, Street, and Architectural Photographs with Wide-Angle Lenses (Including Tilt-Shift Lenses)

Description

The very thing that makes wide-angle photography so compelling also makes it a challenge: While you’re sure to capture a vast scene using a wide-angle lens, it can be difficult to direct the viewer’s attention when so many elements are included in an image. For many photographers, the results of their wide-angle attempts are a disappointment and they just can’t seem to achieve that “Wow” they are hoping for in their images. Whether you’re new to wide-angle lenses or you’ve been frustrated by them for a long time, expert photographer, teacher, and author Chris Marquardt is here to help. Wide-Angle Photography is packed with information—as well as beautiful and inspiring photography—that will help you take your wide-angle image making to the next level. In a friendly, accessible manner Chris walks you through in-depth discussions of both the advantages and the pitfalls of wide-angle photography, the fundamentals you need to know, composition and design principles, and the specific genres in which wide-angle lenses can be used to create outstanding images—not only for landscape photography, but for portrait, street, architectural, and interior photography, as well. Throughout the book, Chris offers hands-on exercises that drive home the concepts being taught so you can learn by doing. Chris also dedicates two full chapters to tilt-shift lenses for those who are interested in exploring and maximizing the fascinating capabilities these kinds of lenses offer. Topics include: Types of lenses and filtersUnderstanding depth of fieldAngles of view, crop factors, and focal lengthsHandling distortion and aberrationsComposition, design, and contextPoint of view and perspectiveWide-angle for various genresPanoramas and stitching imagesTilt-shift lensesHands-on exercisesAnd much more… Title Copyright Dedication Acknowledgments About the Author Table of Contents Preface: Depth Follows Breadth How to Approach This Book Who is This Book Aimed At? Photospeak 1 First Steps 1.1 Differences in Depth 1.2 Angles of View and Context 1.3 Sharpness and Context 1.4 Landscapes and Composition 1.5 Barrel Distortion 1.6 Using Depth and Distortion Creatively 1.7 Distortion at the Edge of the Frame 2 What Are Wide Angles All About? 2.1 The Human Eye 2.2 Focal Lengths 2.2.1 Normal Lenses 2.2.2 Depth not Breadth 2.2.3 Crop Factors 2.2.4 Classifying Focal Lengths 2.3 Angles of View 2.4 Perceived Wide Angles 3 Creative Challenges 3.1 Distance 3.1.1 Loads of Stuff in the Frame 3.1.2 Lots of Contrast 3.1.3 Big Backgrounds 3.1.4 Edge Distortion 3.2 Separating Foreground and Background 3.2.1 Using Depth of Field 3.2.2 Using Contrast 3.2.3 Using Lighting Effects 3.3 Proximity 3.3.1 Physical Closeness 3.3.2 Metaphorical Closeness 3.4 Creating Depth 3.4.1 Using Layers 3.4.2 Using the Foreground 3.4.3 Using Lines 3.4.4 Using Contrast 3.4.5 Using Color 3.4.6 Using Content 3.4.7 Using Motion Blur 3.5 Exaggeration 3.5.1 Depth 3.5.2 Lines 4 Wide-Angle Lenses in Practice 4.1 Landscapes 4.1.1 Essentials 4.1.2 Other Tricks 4.1.3 Examples 4.2 Architecture 4.2.1 Essentials 4.2.2 Other Tricks 4.2.3 Examples 4.3 Street Photography 4.3.1 Essentials 4.3.2 Other Tricks 4.3.3 Examples 4.4 Portraits 4.4.1 Essentials 4.4.2 Other Tricks 4.4.3 Examples 5 The Technical View 5.1 Visual Sharpness 5.1.1 Depth of Field 5.1.2 Sharpness Vignette 5.2 Sharpness and Motion 5.2.1 Camera Shake 5.2.2 Rule of Thumb 5.2.3 Stability 5.3 Image Quality: Colors 5.3.1 Chromatic Aberrations 5.4 Image Quality: Distribution of Brightness 5.4.1 Vignetting from the Image Circle 5.4.2 Vignetting with Filters 5.4.3 Vignetting and Angular Response 5.4.4 Vignetting from Lens Hoods 5.5 Image Quality: Distortion 5.5.1 Computational Photography 5.5.2 Software 5.6 Image Quality: Skewed Lines Fisheye Lenses 5.7 Image Quality: Field Curvature 5.8 Panoramas: Wide-Angle Photos without Wide-Angle Lenses Panorama Photography Tips 5.8.1 Multi-Row Panoramas 5.8.2 Fill Functions 5.8.3 The Reduced-Depth-of-Field Trick 5.9 Lens Buyer’s Guide Superzooms Wide-Angle Zooms Prime Lenses 6 Tilt-Shift Part 1: The Basics 6.1 Large-Format Capability in a Small Package Tilt-Shift Lenses 6.2 Tilt-Shift Functionality 6.2.1 Shift 6.2.2 Tilt 6.3 Tilt-Shift in Practice 6.3.1 Tilting and Shifting 6.3.2 Rotation 6.3.3 The Image Circle 6.3.4 Shooting By Hand 6.4 Larger Sweet Spot 6.5 Tilt-Shift Zoom 6.6 Comparability 6.7 Tilt-Shift for Everyone 6.7.1 Second-Hand Gear 6.7.2 Rentals 6.7.3 Lensbaby 6.7.4 Freelensing 6.7.5 Tilt-Shift Adapters 6.7.6 Software Simulation 7 Tilt-Shift Part 2: In Practice 7.1 Architecture 7.1.1 Perspective Correction 7.1.2 Emphasizing Key Elements 7.1.3 The Vignette Trick 7.1.4 Depth of Field 7.1.5 Impossible Situations 7.2 Landscapes and Nature 7.2.1 Infinite Depth of Field 7.2.2 Shifting Emphasis 7.2.3 Parallel Trees 7.2.4 Water 7.3 Panoramas 7.4 Product Photography 7.4.1 Controlling Focus 7.4.2 Controlling Distortion 7.5 Portraits 7.5.1 Selective Focus 7.5.2 Longer Legs 7.5.3 Tricking Your Subject 7.6 Fake Miniatures 7.6.1 Pattern Recognition 7.6.2 Assumed Depth of Field 7.6.3 Other Tricks 7.6.4 Video Miniatures 7.6.5 Fake Miniatures without Tilt-Shift 7.7 Handheld Tilt-Shift 7.7.1 Focusing Screens 7.7.2 Using the Horizon Epilogue: What Now? Appendices