Lens Tips

One of the main tools we have for creating visual effects are lenses, the photographer’s eye on the world. Every choice of lens has implications about what you can and cannot include in the frame, how subjects within the frame relate to one another and how we use aperture settings and focal length to create a special point of view. In this chapter we’ll explore lens choice as well as lens controls that are essential to creative photography, including depth of field and focusing options.

When Olympus and Panasonic launched the Micro Four Thirds system they offered adapters that enabled the use of regular Four Thirds lenses. Smart move, because it immediately expanded the library of available glass. The goal of Micro Four Thirds is smaller and lighter SLR cameras. The unanticipated benefit is compatibility with tons of lenses we all thought we’d never use again.

Close-up photography--taking pictures at very close range--can provide a different outlook on everyday things, reveal details unseen by the naked eye, and turn common objects into intriguing abstract images.

The traditional ways to do close-up photography involves special gear: Simple close-up diopter lenses are inexpensive but reduce sharpness noticeably...

Besides photographing people, nature ranks among the most popular subjects. Much of this appeal comes from the fact that there's a sense of wonder and mystery at the beauty of flora and fauna. Through photography, we can express our fascination with flowers and share it with others. Whether you enjoy shooting close-ups of a bud unfolding, or a field of wildflowers in the...

Color often establishes the mood of a photograph, whether it's bold or subdued. Green is cool and refreshing, while red on the other hand, is fiery and passionate.

If you want to emphasize a particular color in a picture, keep in mind that some of the most pleasing color photos are ones in which one color or a group of closely related hues...

When you focus your camera's lens on a subject, the point focused upon is sharp. Objects in the scene closer or farther than that point appear progressively less sharp as their distance from the focused point increases.

Depth of field refers to the area in front of and beyond the point focused upon in which things appear acceptably sharp in a photograph. Depth of...

If you're intrigued by architecture and its interesting details, chances are that you enjoy photographing stairways. You can capture interesting design elements, both in structure and in detail. Stairways can be depicted in their entirety with curved, sweeping lines, or can become an abstract subject if you zoom in on a close-up of...