long lens landscapes
Why shoot landscapes with a long lens?
You may be asking why use a 300mm lens or a 500mm lens for landscapes? Of course, this is a different approach! Shorter focal lengths allow you to represent the entire scene, while longer lenses encourage you to more easily pick out a small piece of it that really resonates with you.
This doesn’t mean you have to use unusual focal lengths to get echo photos. But since a lot of landscapes are taken with wider focal lengths, it can allow you to be free and experiment with unusual and new ways of looking at things.
Long-lens landscapes give a beautiful, isolated, almost focused look. They don’t provide as much context and are more dreamy. Feels good, right? So, here are my tips for getting started in this interesting genre of landscape photography.
1. Look for repeating patterns
wig Wrote a neat article Recently about shooting landscapes with the new Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G, and he took this at 400mm:
His photo shows well how a long lens can bring out the natural repeating patterns hidden in a relaxing landscape. As a bonus, you can more easily see small details in the forest, like the tall fell on the bottom-right.
Can you do this with a shorter focal length like 50mm? Maybe sometimes, but not often. Indeed, longer lenses will give you a narrower perspective and allow you to get these fascinating patterns in the frame. Could Spencer have gotten this framing with a wider lens? He told me, “That would have been impossible. These aspen were halfway up the distant hill. Even with a drone or some decent way of getting closer with a 50mm lens, the perspective would have looked very different – not nearly as flat and with less of a uniform pattern.”
2. Use a tripod
I am not a fan of tripods for bird photography. But, when it comes to landscapes with long lenses, I like to use a tripod. Since there will usually be more things in focus with a longer lens landscape, there is less room for error. Plus, most landscapes don’t blow away, so there’s no reason to worry about taking a little extra time with the tripod.
In fact, for the following intimate landscape shot of grass, I don’t think I would have been able to get it without using a tripod, because I really needed to observe the swaying grass and get the shot at the right moment.
3. Try unusual places
Although it’s not perfect, wide lenses are perfect when you have many interesting, harmonious elements in front of you. On the other hand, landscapes with long lenses can work well, even if half the landscape is barren land, as unfortunate as barren land is.
My current “local patch” is one of those spots that doesn’t look as good with a wider lens, at least in terms of taking a wider view. However, there are small patches that look quite beautiful when isolated. Therefore, try some unusual locations that may not be typical for landscape photography. You may be surprised!
4. Look for foreground elements
Because of the compression effect of a longer lens, you can include interesting elements in your photo that aren’t possible with a wider lens. Let’s take a look at the following photo:
There are some out of focus bushes in the foreground which I used to frame my subject. With a wide-angle lens, not only would the moon be much smaller, but the bushes wouldn’t be as soft and dreamy. Foreground elements aren’t limited to just wide-angle photos.
5. Shallow depth of field is welcome
You can definitely get shallow depth of field landscapes with wider lenses. However, the effect may not be so noticeable, and so a little more work is required to make the shallow depth of field prominent enough.
Longer lenses, because of their magnification, make the effect of shallow depth of field more prominent, and so you can more easily incorporate it into your landscape. In this context, think of landscapes with long lenses as portraits of a character in a larger landscape.
6. Beware of heat distortion
Long lenses add magnification, which can be a good thing if you’re photographing something like birds. Unfortunately, this also means that the effects of heat distortion are increased. Compared to bird photography, this is even worse in landscape photography because landscape elements are usually further away than in bird photography.
If heat distortion is around there isn’t really anything you can do about it, except try taking more than one photo and choose the sharpest photo later. Or maybe cry. Or photograph close-up subjects such as birds. or whatever.
conclusion
I love landscapes with long lenses. This doesn’t mean I avoid wider focal lengths altogether, but my preferred focal lengths for landscapes are usually 300mm and above. They may not become your primary equipment, but I think they’re tools every landscape photographer should have… at least, for those times when that 20mm lens doesn’t give the right feel!
So, what’s the answer to my naive question, can the 50mm be used for landscapes? The correct answer is that any lens can be used for landscapes, if it allows you to convey something you saw and echoed in the field.
