David (I think, there’s no author information on the post) of Digital Photography School has rediscovered his wide angle lens! He has a few examples, and the kids shots are particularly good. The two at the bottom of the page aren’t anything to write home about however. I’d have got closer in on the violin player to exaggerate the size of his elbow and arm.
Of course, I’m very keen on my own Sigma 10-20 wide-angle lens too. It’s great for street shots for two reasons:
- It’s so wide that I can be pointing at something else and still get some passers-by in the shot. Useful when I’m not feeling up to pointing my camera in their direction. I usually carry my camera about with me in my hand, in a vertical orientation. I don’t have to worry too much about missing the action with a wide field of view.
- Distortion! It’s not the most flattering in the world, but I just love the flat stretched look at the edges. People and objects lose their depth and become frames for what’s in the center of the image. See point 1 again.
There’s one bad thing about wide angle for street shooting, you have to get really close to get a frame filling shot. That person five feet away from you is going to be swallowed up by their surroundings. Get in close, they won’t hurt you! *gulp*
I had a great time at WordCamp this year, and I have a feeling you’ll see more wide angle shooting by a few people who were there!
What do you do with yours?
