Focal length and angle of view

The scrapyard and the spire

For this first exercise I chose a scene near my home that had detail in the foreground and background in order to more easily compare what I saw looking directly with what I saw through the viewfinder. In the background is Chesterfield's famous crooked spire, ( I won't labour this in the future). In the foreground is a less than famous car scrapyard, (I certainly won't labour this in the future as I was challenged by one of the staff when taking the photographs, even though I was well outside their property).

This image was taken with a zoom lens set at a focal length by which the scene through the viewfinder matched what I saw without the camera. I was surprised to find that the focal length was 70mm. I expected something much less and always thought that standard on a digital SLR was between 30 and 40mm. The first thing I have learned. The bushes at the front are what catch the eye rather than the scrapyard or the spire.

 This image was taken with a zoom lens set at 28mm. There's far too much uninteresting foreground but it has enhanced the sky. It was rapidly changing on the day I took these photographs and the focal length for this image has made it look somewhat dramatic. It is now the dominant feature rather than the scrapyard.  If I had not been carrying out the exercise and I really wanted this image, I would have moved the camera up to get rid of the foreground and make more of the sky.

For this image, a zoom lens was set at 200mm. The scrapyard, spire, green chimney and tree are now prominent. There is no sky or foreground and the perspective has been flattened, giving a false impression of the proximity of the spire and scrapyard. The greater prominence of the scrapyard and the spire gives the image more of the impact I was looking for from the scene. I had some idea about the juxtaposition of the scrapyard and the spire symbolising a town full of heritage and interest emerging from the effects of the scrapping of industry in the 1980s.



The main learning from this exercise is the extent to which altering the focal length of the lens does more than magnifying objects or giving a wider view; it changes the nature of the impact of the image and the 'story' it tells. I have not yet printed these images and returned to the scene to compare how far from my eyes I need to hold each to match reality. I may go when the scrapyard is closed!