Wide Angle – Landscape Photography
Like so many photographers starting out, I fell for and got hooked on optical zoom in my point and shoot cameras and DSLR. The more zoom, the better. My biggest zoom was 18X with point and shoot cameras and 15x with my 18-270 mm Tamron lens for my DSLR camera. Today you can purchase point and shoot camera with 42x and 50x optical zoom. I liked and still do use the zoom for closeups of nature, wildlife and people .
But about 4 years ago, things changed, when I started going on long distance hikes and became more interested in landscape photography. I realized shooting wide angle allowed me to take in more of the mountains and scenery around it. Bill Danielson’s presentation on Cape Breton Weather Watching open my eyes to include more of the skies and cloud formations in my photos. I was beginning to get hooked on landscape photography and shooting more wide angle shots.
Late in 2012, I was fortunate to acquire a wide angle lens for my DSLR – a 12-24 mm F4 lens. I was amazed at the pictures I could take…..Now when I got out for my walks or hikes , I take wide angle shots all the time whether it is with the point and shoot camera or the DSLR. So try the next time you are outside try not to zoom out, but instead take photos with the wide angle out as far as it goes. Try to have something in the foreground so it provides a better depth of field. Put your setting on A – Aperature. You are on your way to landscape photography.
Below are some photos I took recently with points & shoot cameras – Nikon S9300 and Nikon P7700 and with Nikon D90 (DSLR). All point & shoot cameras can take wide angle photos and generally come with lens 24mm, 25mm or 28 mm. DSLR lens can go lower from 17 mm down to 8 mm.