Shutter Sisters

Stepping Back

By

My vision seems to be evolving these days. I find myself stepping back to get a broader view more often than I have in the past. Shooting wide. While so much can be discovered in close range… like delicate lashes, luscious pores, and tiny insects tip-toeing on petals… shooting wide sets the scene and gives you space for stories to unfold. As I consider the potential opportunity Jen and I have to lead our Shutter Sisters Picture Hope Dream Assignment, I’m beginning to think through visual approaches for capturing stories in still image form and I’m convinced that a wide angle lens will play a critical role in the journey.

Can you recommend a wide angle lens you love?

Share an image with a good sense of place and tell us the secret to your still image storytelling.

Comments

  5. I recently for the sigma 30mm 1.4 and I love it. I don’t have very many wide shots yet as I just got it and haven’t been out much with it. But it’s a beautiful lens!!

  8. Confessions of a close-cropper…I have to force myself to shoot wide! Yet I am always drawn to broad spaces in the photos of others. So I put on my widest lens recently (which really isn’t that wide: Canon 28-80) and made it a point to try and capture more of what I see. I realize that, when viewing my own pictures, I can remember the setting and how it naturally looked. But that doesn’t always translate to others who weren’t there! Shooting wide helps to capture more of the setting and tell a bigger story, sometimes. I’ll keep trying…

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/ko2008/3355416980/

  9. wow, that is a beautiful photo. what a scene! so many stories come to mind. you are so right. and i often get too close, so focus away from all the surroundings. sometimes things look cleaner or prettier when you remove the background (depending on if you’re in my messy house!)

    this night i got the full picture and it’s a new favorite photo of the city where i live
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerashymomma/3430979762/

  15. I love, love, love shooting wide. It’s one of my favorite perspectives. I WISH I could afford the wide angle lens I want. (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/520635-GREY/Nikon_2163_AF_S_Zoom_Nikkor_14_24mm.html) In my dreams, huh?!

    The widest I can go now is 18mm with my kit lens. I will happy with that for now:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/spabis/3016915378/in/set-72157607622594351/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/spabis/3115892924/in/set-72157605050278706/

    Not sure if I have any secrets to share. I’m still learning. I just shoot at whatever catches my eye.

  16. I recently found your site and I love seeing everyone’s pictures. I have grand dreams of developing my photography skills. It is inspiring to see how others take pictures. I don’t have a wide angle lens yet and most of my pictures are up close to capture the faces of my twin boys. But at the end of last week I took some pictures of them in the bluebonnets. A week or so before that I took a picture of the same field as I was driving past it on my way home.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/8591798@N06/3438173576/in/set-72157616616710705/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/8591798@N06/3437363269/

  18. Guilty as charged 🙂 I mostly shoot with my telephoto lens too. But there are moments when a wide lense is the only chance to get ‘everything’ in:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/27879764@N07/2747381532

    As for you asking for a recommendation: I’m a Canon shooter, so I’m not very informed about Nikon lenses, but I think the two cameras you work with have a crop sensor size of 1.5 similar to my EOS 40D. I use a Canon EF-S 10-22mm as a wide angle lens (works like a 16-35mm on a full frame sensor camera) and I really love it, especially for landscape photography! And working with a zoom lens makes the bag a little bit lighter too 🙂 Hope that helps…

  21. I would love to have a 12-24mm in my bag, but I find I can go wide with the simple lightweight 18-55 nikkor kit lens and get the results I’m looking for. Half the time, I also get the wide/inclusive shots by just hanging back from the action. I love wide and wide plus b+w for storytelling. For me, it’s all about the arrangement of objects in relation to each other that you can’t really accomplish by cropping or other editing tricks that work with closer images.

    This shot here was our first day at our beach house rental and for me, knowing the story of the place, it captures all of the anticipation and the feel of just that short walk up to the beach that just makes this place what we look forward to all year as a family. The fence up ahead marks the beginning of the sandy path through the grass and just at the top edge of the grass…the beach.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/heather_kennedy/3438290004/
    (larger http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3554/3438290004_f9924c353c_o.jpg )

    I think the advantage of a true wide shot is that you can be closer to the story and still capture the details you might otherwise miss on the periphery.

  22. Typically, I am a close-up-crop-in-camera gal, but I do have one wide angle that I actually love, and use lots. (Especially indoors for family documentation stuff.) It’s the Sigma 28 1.8 Macro. Wonderful prime lens; and the macro is like a little bonus for me, allowing some close work without switching lenses. It’s a little heavier, but lovely just the same.

  25. For years I have concentrated on the closeups, but at the end of the shoot I like to step back to see the big picture. They are often my favorites from the shoot.
    The garden shoot started up close then moved back for the big picture that places the garden in its whole setting.
    http://pixels-n-pen.blogspot.com

  26. If you have a Nikon DX camera I would check out the 17-55 2.8. If you have an FX version then the 17-35 2.8 is great. I would rent them first and see how you like them….as both are on the pricey side. Fisheye’s are pretty fun too for getting a really wide look.

  27. I don’t shoot wide very often. Part of the reason is that it is hard to get a wide shot that isn’t full of overhead wires around here…and I don’t get away much. Maybe this coming week I can get some wider shots when I get out of town.

  28. that photo is amazing steph!!! and i love your thoughts here. i can already imagine the shots you can capture on your assignment!!!! it makes me giddy!

  30. Lovely storytelling photo. Thats what I’ve heard it called . Love it.
    I don’t have a true wide angle lens yet, but I use my 28-135mm canon lens when I want the whole scene ♥

  31. …And so they came upon a mysterious land, untouched and unseen by humanity. The woodland rolled on without end, so they paused, firmly pushed their sticks into the ground and continued to walk into the mist.

    http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3325/3438263005_783c9763ef_b.jpg

    [Thought I would write my own story there. I took this pic this afternoon on a walk – for some reason the view at this wide angle looked very Thoreau-esque to me!]

  33. Love that photo! It seems like an idyllic scenario, and that person observing off to the right makes you want to know what’s going on here.

    I find wide angle indispensable for events photography, but I seem to still get by w/ my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 on my camera 99% of the time.

    My kit lens (18mm-55mm) is wide enough most of the time, but I did recently purchase a ultra wide lens, the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8: http://www.adorama.com/TN1116NK.html

    It adds an interesting perspective: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierraromeo/3396596640/

  34. I love wide angle shooting. I like it for environmental portraits, especially. I know some are down on using wide angles for portraits, but it’s one of my favorites. (Unless we’re talking head shots.)

    I have a trusty Sigma f/1.8 24mm. I think they make them for Nikon and Canon mounts, too.

    I think it’s this one, though I don’t remember the whole macro thing. ha ha:

    http://www.adorama.com/SG2418MAX.html?searchinfo=sigma+24mm+1.8

  35. I don’t have any recommendations on lenses, but I wanted to say how much I love the photo. It is beautiful and so peaceful…it makes me wish I was there on the swing.

  36. That scenario is so inviting. I think I’ll be checking all giant trees for swings for the rest of my life. What a lovely story this shot tells.