The Best of Wedding Photography.pdf - Free

Long lenses stack the perspective, making near and far objects seem closer together because of the narrower angle of view. Here Mercury Megaloudis
photographed bride and groom strolling through a vineyard in winter. The effect is a dreary scene made joyful by the couple’s presence.
lens keeps people in the back of the group the same relative
size as those in the front of the group.
When space doesn’t permit the use of a longer lens,
short lenses must be used, but you should be aware that
the subjects in the front row of a large group will appear
larger than those in the back—especially if you get too
close. Extreme wide-angle lenses will distort the subjects’
appearance, particularly those closest to the frame edges.
Raising the camera height, thus placing all subjects at the
same relative distance from the lens, can minimize some
of this effect. Also, the closer to the center of the frame
the people are, the less distorted they will appear.
Conversely, you can use a much longer lens if you have
the working room. A 200mm lens, for instance, is a beautiful
portrait lens for the 35mm format because it provides
very shallow depth of field and throws the background
completely out of focus, providing a backdrop that won’t
distract viewers from the subjects. When used at wider
apertures, this focal length provides a very shallow band
of focus that can be used to accentuate just the eyes, for instance,
or just the frontal planes of the faces.
Very long lenses (300mm and longer for 35mm) can
sometimes distort perspective. With them, the subject’s
features appear compressed. Depending on the working
distance, the nose may appear pasted onto the subject’s
face, and the ears may appear parallel to the eyes. While
lenses this long normally prohibit communication in a
posed portrait, they are ideal for working unobserved as a
wedding photojournalist often does. You can make headand-shoulders
images from a long distance away.
When making three-quarter- or full-length group portraits,
it is best to use the normal focal length lens for your
camera. This lens will provide normal perspective because
you will be at a greater working distance from your subjects
than you would be when making a close-up portrait.
It is tricky sometimes to blur the background with a normal
focal length lens, since the background is in close
proximity to the subjects. If forced to use a normal or
short lens, you can always blur the background elements
later in Photoshop using selective blurring. With longer
lenses you can isolate your subjects from the background
because of the working distance and image size.
When making group portraits, you are often forced to
use a wide-angle lens. In this case, the background problems
noted above can be even more pronounced. Still, a
wide angle is often the only way you can fit the group into
the shot and maintain a decent working distance. For this
reason, many group photographers carry a stepladder or
scope out the location in advance to find a high vantage
point, if called for.
CAMERA TECHNIQUE 39