Digital Home Thoughts: Photo 101 - Camera Controls

A Small Caution:
While I have mentioned possible uses for the zoom settings at each end, it doesn't mean you have to strictly follow them all the time. There's this misconception that wide angles are landscape lenses and short telephotos are portraiture lenses; it's simply not true. Here is an example of a boring landscape taken with a wide angle lens:


Yawn. Yet another boring wide angle landscape photo.

What is important is that you should use whatever that fulfills your vision, be it good or bad. If it's good, great, you've picked up something to add to your toolbox of photography skills, and if it's bad, well, like I said in my previous article, learn from your mistakes and try again. Whatever it is, don't end up as a too formulaic photographer!

In Conclusion
Well, that was quite a bit for just one control, but it is a fairly important one, as you can see; the zoom control has a direct and indirect influence on two ways in how a scene is portrayed in a photo. Having a better understanding of these influences will increase the options you have at your disposal the next time you approach a photography opportunity, and I hope you will get great results in your photographs!