The Secret of WIDE ANGLE Lenses in Photography

A wide angle lens shouldn't be used like a "normal" lens. It is important to understand the different compositional architectures and how to use the strengths of a wide angle lens to your advantage. In this video I show you how to master your wide angle lens.
Christian Irmler
Landscape Photography Vlog - Tips - Tutorial
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[@GlasgowBits]

Really enjoyed this video - I learned a lot. I didn't think I was so interested in ultra-wide photography, but then I ended up with a 12mm lens and didn't know how to make use of it. I got a lot of ideas in this video, thanks.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi @GlasgowBits, thank you so much for your positive feedback, my friend. So nice to hear that you enjoyed this video 😊 For wide angle photography we have to think a little bit different, but as soon as we are in, we can take really powerful images. Enjoy your weekend, Christian

[@chrissbayer9561]

Sehr informativ und lehrreich, Christian, danke für's Teilen. Auch die Fotos sind mal wieder traumhaft. Hab ein schönes Wochenende mit vielen tollen Fotomotiven und liebe Grüße aus Bayern. :)

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Chris, freut mich dass dir das Video gefallen hat :) Schöne Grüße aus dem Salzkammergut und schönes Wochenende, Christian

[@daviddaw999]

What an interesting video you have created, Christian. You really made me rethink how I use my wide angle lens. Thanks.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi David, thank you so much for your kind feedback, means a lot! Enjoy your wide angle photography and see you in the next video 😉 Christian

[@guillaumenobody9624]

Great advices, thanks

[@christian.irmler]

Thanks a lot for your kind feedback, Guillaume 😉🍺 Nice greetings, Christian

[@imSteveSmith]

I enjoyed this video. Christian provides excellent insights into wide angle photography. I've used wide angle lenses for years and Christian has helped me to put words to concepts that I did not know how to articulate.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Steve, thank you so much for your kind comment, my friend. That means a lot :) Nice greetings from Austria, Christian

[@margareteirmler6998]

Wieder ein interessantes Video mit herrlichen Fotos, wunderbar!

[@christian.irmler]

Vielen Dank :)

[@thomaseriksson6256]

Thanks for this video. I'm not used to Ultra Wide Angle but I was assigned on a photography course a few years ago to learn how to use those lenses. If I understand it correctly, these are used to get a sharp foreground, but the problem is that the background will be diminished. And that there may be problems with the sharpness in the middle and background, which may require focus stacking. To get a more interesting background, you can use the Focal-Length Blending for Landscape technique where you use a normal wide angle lens to photograph the background and an ultra wide lens for the foreground.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Thomas, no, in most of the cases we want to get a pin sharp photograph in landscape photography from front to back, also with an ultra wide angle lens. In most of the cases that is possible without focus stacking. The trick here is the right focusing technique. I made already a comprehensive video about focusing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmiTc2yYesecZ8k I hope that helps 😉 Nice greetings, Christian

[@thomaseriksson6256]

@@christian.irmler How important is a stabilized lens?

[@anthonyross-fallon9624]

Hi Christian some great info something I never considered love the photos! Best wishes Anthony

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Anthony, thanks a lot, my friend 😊 Nice greetings, Christian

[@Trish12303]

Thank you Christian, this is some really great information! You have some simply stunning images!! Thanks for sharing!!

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Trish, thanks a lot for your kind feedback. I really appreciate :) Nice greetings from the mountains of Austria, Christian

[@TimOGhoul]

Thank you for this video. A lot of videos I’ve seen regarding wide angle lenses almost seemed discouraging and yours was the first I’ve seen that has made me want to go out and shoot.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Tim, thank you so much for your kind words, my friend! Really great to hear that my video was useful and inspiring 😊 See you in the next one, Christian

[@-Mr.Mullet-]

Thanks. Great advice and stunning photo examples.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Mr. Mullet, thanks a lot my friend :) Have a great weekend, Christian

[@swamig6150]

Hi Christian, thank you for this great video. Very helpful to me.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi @swamig6150, I thank YOU for watching, my friend 😉 Nice greetings, Christian

[@carloslima6747]

Amazing video. Congratulations for your amazing job, and help. Thank you.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Carlos, thank you so much for your kind comment, my friend. Means a lot :) Nice greetings, Christian

[@tombroski5640]

Very interesting and valuable Video

[@christian.irmler]

Thanks a lot, Tom 😊

[@DarrenJSpoonley]

Great points on this one my friend !! The wide angle lens rarely comes off my camera but when it does it does :-)

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Darren, it is interesting: I like to photograph with ultra wide angle lenses, but it is not my most used focal range :) Thanks a lot for watching, buddy! Looking forward to your new video tomorrow. Nice greetings, Christian

[@adrianalfordphotography]

Great video Christian and thanks for sharing your technique and creative process using wide angle lenses. Some good tips in there. My only problem is I own too many wide angle lenses 😂 Thanks for sharing the video buddy, top work 👍🙏

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Adrian, thanks a lot, buddy! Although I gave already many lenses away from my analogue times, I still own too many, I also fear :) Have a great weekend, Christian

[@JBHaber]

Love the comparison shots showing images taken at ground level vs standing up and tilting the lens down to capture mid-ground. Great instruction to master wide-angle photography.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Jonathan, thank you so much, my friend! The vertical position has indeed a quite high impact. But it took a while that I tried to go higher :) Nice greetings, Christian

[@GuidoVanDeWater]

Interesting video! Wide angle is a bit of a weak spot for me. I always think that the environment in the netherlands isn't the best for wideangle shots. But I promised myself I would try to commit to it more in 2023. So far some decent results but it has to get even better. This video deffinitly helped with that thnx. Grt guido

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Guido, I struggled massively when I tried out ultra wide angle lenses for the first time. I started with photography in 1990, there did simply no ultra wide lenses exist, at least not for young photography hobbyists like I was back then with poor pocket money :) I got used in using longer focal lengths and so it took me quite long to find out how I can get reasonable results with wide angle lenses, as well. Ultimately, the tips I gave in this video helped me. I cross my fingers for you that they'll also help you :) Thanks a lot for watching, my friend. Nice greetings, Christian

[@johevideos]

Very good video

[@christian.irmler]

Thanks a lot, my friend! Highly appreciated 😊 Enjoy your Sunday, Christian

[@echoauxgen]

To really understand wide angle lenses is to do astro Milky Way on a beach with driftwood that is way taller than you and you are able to get real close with a little room above for the milky way to fit above the driftwood. The MW will appear small as it stretches across the sky from right to left of the path in the sky, a reason MW photographers want the widest of wide. But unlike a panorama where you get a rainbow effect with the subjects below and under the bow. Wide without the rainbow effect is it also gives the effect of a multilevel pano when shot level say at the top of a canyon wall where you get the view of water far below and mountains to the horizon and stopping clouds above in one image vs doing a multilevel panorama while standing at the edge of a cliff then working the blend of the moving clouds in post.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi @echoauxgen, thanks a lot for your contribution. That's a great example of how to use a wide angle lens 🙂 Nice greetings, Christian

[@thomaseriksson6256]

Thank you for the information. I'm not good at ultra wide lenses. I have a Zeiss 18mmF3.5 as my widest. I have been thinking about getting a 2nd hand Nikon 19mmPC or a Zeiss 15mm lens. I have a 24mm PC but I'm seldom uses it. I use mostly 27-90mm on FF and woodland photo. So your video is pushing me to the Nikon 19mmPC lens due to you angle the lens down. But first I'm saving money for a 2nd hand Nikon 400mmF2.8 G VR lens and a Nikon D850 45MPix camera. When do you use a panorama instead of an ultra-wide lens? How often do you use filters, pol, ND, ND grad on the wide angle lens?

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Thomas, for woodland photography a too short but also too long focal range can get tricky. Your 27-90mm lens sounds after a good choice for woodland photography. I don't like to work with prime lenses, to be honest, as the focal length is a very important factor for my compositions. How often I use filters is a good question. I have to analyze that, to be honest :) Most times I don't use filters, but in many cases they are simply necessary. I stopped using ND grad filters, but ND are often a quite good idea. But that is not a question of focal length, that is more a question about subject and mood. Have a great weekend my friend, Christian

[@thomaseriksson6256]

@@christian.irmler I recently got two Zoom lenses 24-70mm and 70-200mm mostly that I needed the VR function and they are usable on a 45 Mpix sensor. I had a 35 to 70mm Zoom, 14 years ago but the 35mm was too tight for catching weddings and funerals but I was okay for portrait. I sold of that lens when I went digital 2007 to 2010 and use primes only up to today. I currently use Fuji X-Pro1 +18 to 55mm and X-T1+55 to 200mm as compacts. The 27mm was the 18mm prime on a 12 Mpix DX camera D300. After that camera brooked down after 13 years use, I got 2nd hand FF a cameras as D700, I could reuse the D300 vertical grip and batteries and last year a D800E. I have an AF300mmF2.8 IF-ED for wildlife that will be replaced with a 2nd hand 400mm due to it’s an old screw drive lens. I don’t do much wildlife so It’s may be an expense that will not be a logic decision to get but the alternative is a 200-509mmF5.6 E VR Zoom and it will be hard to use that lens in low light. .

[@dimitristsagdis7340]

Tnx, the main thing I struggle with when using a wide angle lens is that the mountain or whatever in the distance looks less epic/smaller than the foreground elements. So I'm unsure if this means I should opt instead for a less wide lens or if there is some other solution to be found or technique to be used. As placing the mountain at the edge is not always compositionally desirable.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Dimistris, yes, that's an important point. The shorter the focal length the more the giant mountains look more like gnomes :) The decision of focal length is very important here, when it comes down to expressing mood in your image. Often we have to make compromises, as well. I think to remember that I mentioned more about that in my focal length video I also linked in the end of this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5WXlWaEZr51btk Enjoy your weekend, Christian

[@dimitristsagdis7340]

@@christian.irmler Tnx I’ll rewatch that one

[@KapitonVachnadze]

It's brilliant! It's very good and conceptually! But I'd like to ask the author to clarify one phrase here, 0.02.53: "But this behavior of getting this window one by one onto a sensor is just for focal length around 50 millimeters and a..." Bath? Is it an idiom or subtitles text is incorrect? Excuse me, I'm translating your text into Russian for myself from subtitles, because your colloquial speech too fast for me. Thanks a lot for this video and your help.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Капитон, thanks a lot for your kind words, my friend 😊 I guess, the automatic voice recognition algorithm of KZbin just doesn't know how to handle my more, let's say "creative style of English" 😆 No, I didn't suggest taking a bath, althought that could also help to get creative. I meant "50mm and above". So, every focal length that is 50mm and longer tends to lead to a kind of window effect in the composition. I hope that was translated right now to you. Otherwise, feel free to ask again. Thanks a lot for watching and nice greetings, Christian

[@KapitonVachnadze]

@@christian.irmler Thanks a lot! That's a great help and I appriciate that. Of course, the automatic voice recognition algorithm isn't ideal, but mostly I can understand everything. Now I'm here: 4.52 and still everyting is clear,. If I stop somewhere again, I'll definitely ask you. Lord bless you!

[@thomaseriksson6256]

Is a wide tillt shift lens better for landscape than a wider lens?

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Thomas, there is no better or worse, it depends on your goal :) I prefer zoom lenses in landscape photography, as I'm more flexible. This is why I don't use TS lenses. I would probably use TS lenses when I would photograph more architecture. I don't use for landsacpes and don't have any issues with the depth of field. When it is not enough, I simply focus stack. Have a nice Sunday, Christian

[@thomaseriksson6256]

@@christian.irmler Thank you for the feedback. I'm in a process to decide if I shall get a 15mmF2.8 or a 19mmPC lens and I think it will be the Zeiss Milvus 15mmF2.8. But first I will get a 400mmF2.8 lens. I got 24mmF3.5 PC, 45mmF2.8PC and 85mmF2.8 PC. I have used the 45mm lens most and then the 24mm PC on my ATS-C D300 camera but I have switched to FF cameras as D700 and D800E so I'm not shure if the 19mmPC lens will be used often. Both lenses use 150mm filter systems.

[@erichstocker8358]

Ich muss sagen dass ich immer Probleme mit Weitwinkel Objektive habe. Ich sehe persönlich in "Telephoto". Ich sehe nicht ein Wald, sondern ich sehe ein Baum und dann noch ein Baum und auf einmal Bäume. Dann sage ich mir: 'Ah das muss ein Wald sein'. Deswegen benütze 35-135mm Objektive viel besser als 12-24mm. Ich muss mit solchen Weitwinkel Objektive sehr, sehr vorsichtig aufpassen. Foto mit denen sind auch nie meine besten.

[@christian.irmler]

Hallo Erich, du fotografierst ja auch schon eine ganze Weile mit "Nichtultraweitwinkel". Daher kann ich dich absolut verstehen, ich tat mir auch sehr schwer als ich mit Ultraweitwinkel anfing, da ich zu sehr auf längere Brennweiten "festgefahren" war. Letzendlich waren es genau die Dinge die ich im Video erwähnt habe, die mir geholfen haben. Das Ultraweit ist nicht das von mir am häufigsten verwendete Objektiv, aber es lassen sich damit tatsächlich sehr powervolle Fotos machen. Wobei 12mm schon extrem ist, um ehrlich zu sein :) Hab ein schönes Wochenende, Christian

[@erichstocker8358]

@@christian.irmler Und du benützt es auch wunderbar 😉

[@oneeyedphotographer]

Bended might have been n English word once, but today it's bent. Curved is probably a better word though. We talk about the curvature of the earth, for example. I watched your video on a large wall-mounted TV. As I sit before it, the TV is on the part of the wall nearest me, the ends of the wall are significantly further away. If I photograph all of the wall from the point where I sit, the wall will seem distorted. It's nothing to do with the lens, it's all to do with maths. If I stand further back, and use a narrower lens to compass the same area of the wall, the ends of the wall will be closer, relative to the middle, than now. The curvature will still be there, though, but less apparent. Our eyes are used to all this, and our brains adjust for it, unless we stop and think about it. If you stand at the end of a wall, or in the middle of a road or railway track, you see the same thing, though nothing seems bent. The edges of the wall, the road, the track taper off in the distance. I learned technical drawing over sixty years ago, they converge at the vanishing point, on the horizon. I regularly use prime lenses, I have no difficulty at all in finding something to photograph, and even a fisheye lens can make good portraits, if you understand what it does. I would rather put my camera in the right place than zoom as a compromise. But it often doesn't really matter.

[@christian.irmler]

Hi John, oh yes, me and my bad English... :) Thank you so much for correcting me here, my friend! This will help me in future, for sure. And you are right: there is no kind of compression done by lenses, it is done by the perspective. This is why I adjust focal length and perspective independent from each other. But of course, there is no right or wrong: if you prefer to use prime lenses you will anyway get fantastic photographs 🙂 Thanks a lot for your interesting comment, my friend. Really fantastic to have a photographer here with that much experience 😉 Have a great Sunday, Christian

[@oneeyedphotographer]

@@christian.irmler I'm well aware that English isn't your first language. It's not terrible, but others actually encourage corrections. Sometimes, an error is nothing more than distraction, others it can lead to serious misunderstandings.

[@colintraveller]

Why is it nbody ever make the point ... " that you take pics that makes you happy .. You never take pics to make others happy " Also being Observant is just as important .. having the ability to be aware of what is around you at any given moment . Unlike those who are glued to there phones that are more prone to walking into people etc .. . I don't use L bracket's the prices for them are a disgrace . I retired my Canon 10-18 and now use Samyang 10mm F2.8 and F2.8 12mm fisheye for LS captures works for me..

[@christian.irmler]

Hi Colin, we have to be careful here: for impressionistic fine art photography it is definitely a requirement that it is the photographer who likes his image. Or let's say, that he fulfills his goals. But it is not always like that in photography. If I would hire you to photograph the marriage of my daughter (what will take some more years I hope :)), I should be happy about the images and my daughter, of course - not you as the photographer :) As long as we do landscape photography as a hobby, it is like you said in many cases. But I met already photographers who had different priorities. Some are primary interested in the relaxing part, being out with their camera in the early morning and take some shots, without the highest requirements for their images. The results were secondary. I even had some in my workshops who were primary fascinated in the technology of their camera and lenses, not in their images. There are different motivations and there is not really a right or wrong. It also often depends on the day: in most cases I'm highly interested that I get out an image I love. But sometimes I also just go out with my camera, because it is so relaxing. And what we haven't considered, yet is, that there are also photographers who make a living from their landscape photography by selling prints. For those it is not unimportant that also others love their images, as well. And in my experience, sometimes it is also like that, that others love an image the photographer doesn't like by himself all too much. So, I think, we should not judge here. Everyone should have the freedom to do landscape photography for the reaons he likes. And that's possible. To L-brackets: yes, they cost money. For some cameras more, for some less. But it's really a big difference, I can recommend. Thanks a lot for your interesting comment, my friend. Nice greetings, Christian

[@colintraveller]

@@christian.irmler I never take pics of people . Not my thing . weddings , fashion work is vastly different because your video never was about that genre . You were talking about LS . Am not a F.TimeWorking Tog. It's a hobby to me that's why i have the viewpoint .. People will forever see scenery with different perspective .