Portrait Photography How To

We like it when photographers have fun with their gear and try out new things, especially when it relates to the creative use of lenses. In the below video, the gang on Mango Street break out a 400mm f/2.8 Canon lens for a portrait shoot.

No, $12K super telephoto lenses are not, typically, used to shoot portraits but Rachel and Daniel from Mango Street thought: "Why the heck not?" and gave it a shot.

"You ever see a massive telephoto lens and wonder what kind of shots you can get with it?" Daniel from Mango Street says. "Well, that's what we're going to show you today."

"We wanted to try out the latest iteration of Canon's 400mm f/2.8 lens, but since it retails for around $12,000 and we're not millionaires, we decided to rent it," Rachel adds. "This lens weighs just over six pounds, or 2840 grams, so we'll use it in conjunction with a solid monopod to help us manage the weight and keep the lens steady. This lens is generally reserved for outdoor wildlife and sports applications, but we wanted to try it out for some portraits in our style."

Check out their video below where they photograph model Matthew McFate using the giant Canon. How do you think they did? Could you see yourself using such a long lens for portraits or does it seem too over the top?

Watch more great photography videos on Mango Street's YouTube channel. If you want to see another long lens experiment, check out this video where photographers shoot portraits at 900mm!