Photography News Issue 43

Photography News | Issue 43 | absolutephoto.com

Technique 36

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Get creativewith your standard lenses Four simple projects to shoot with your 50mm prime lens

PART 3

2 Get into street photography There’s no set lens for street photography, but experts in the subject often use a 50mm prime (or an equivalent model if they’re using a camera with a smaller sensor). A 50mm’s undistorted, natural perspective gives a very realistic view of the world, and their maximum apertures make it easier to shoot handheld in low light. They also let you keep your distance compared to wider lenses and aren’t so long that you need to miles from the action. The (generally) smaller size of a 50mm lens means you won’t stand out too much either. If you have to work quickly, say when walking, or to react on the spur of the moment, switch to program (P), set the ISO to a middling level like 800, so you get a decent shutter speed, and the aperture to around f/5.6, giving some depth-of-field to play with. Set autofocus to Continuous and the autofocus area to a wide zone. The better route though, is to find a good backdrop and wait for the action to happen, like actors entering a stage. This way you can pre- focus where you want, and fine-tune your exposure settings, too.

The wide maximum apertures of standard primes make them perfect for portraits, especially when light is limited. When setting up, don’t frame too close: a half, seated, or full length framing next to a window out of direct sun is perfect. In aperture-priority (A or Av), dial in the lowest f/number or close to it. Frame up and focus on the subject, then check the shutter speed. If light is very low, you may find it’s too slow for shooting handheld, or to stop any subject movement, which will result in blur ruining the pic. If this is the case, increase ISO to raise the shutter speed; as a rule of thumb, on a 50mm lens you’ll want it to be at least 1/50sec, or higher. It’s also worth dialling some negative exposure compensation if you need some more shadow in the pic. 1 Shoot awindow-lit portrait

More often than not, landscape photographers use wide-angle lenses, but the longer focal length of a standard prime can produce great results, too. You won’t get the ‘big’ foregrounds that have become common, but the traditional view that a 50mm (or equivalent) lens provides will lend a more natural look to the scene, and this can often lead to more relaxing and admirable images. After you’ve found a good view (higher vantage points work well), frame up and then mount the camera on a tripod to ensure the sharpest possible results. In aperture-priority mode (A or Av), set a 3 Shoot a standard lens landscape

high f/number like f/14 or f/16, and a low ISO setting like 100 or 200. Focus on the scene and then set the drive mode to self-timer, before triggering your exposure. Shooting with a longer focal length than the usual means you’re more likely to pick up camera shake, so you have one, use a cable-release or remote to start the exposure, too. Because a standard focal length covers less of the scene than a wide-angle lens you’ll have fewer problems with dynamic range, but it may still be necessary to use graduated NDs, so don’t forget your filters and/or a holder that fits the lens.

4 Shoot a photo joiner

The view given by standard focal lengths isn’t super wide, so when shooting more expansive views you may not be able to fit everything you want into the frame. But you can also turn this restriction into a benefit – shoot the subject piecemeal and you’ll be able to use the separate prints to create your own unique view of the scene as a photo joiner. A standard focal length like 50mmmeans you need to shoot roughly double the shots you’d need to cover a scene at 24mm, and this makes for a more cohesive joiner. Longer lenses on the other hand require too many shots. The more natural, undistorted look of a 50mm gives it a classic feel, too. In terms of composing, focusing and exposure, this technique is pretty free form. You can choose to leave the camera in one of the semi-auto modes, like aperture-priority, which will give slight differences in the brightness of each shot (as above), or shoot in manual to keep things consistent. Once the images are shot, you’ve got a choice. You can either print them all out and turn them into a traditional physical joiner, or add the pictures one by one as Photoshop layers.

Next month Next time in PN ’s Ultimate Guide to Lenses, discover a whole new world with a macro lens. We’ll show you everything you need to know when buying a macro lens, how to improve results from it, and how to use it creatively for best-ever close-up pics.