Understanding perspective and the effect of lenses

Perspective is the visual effect that determines how close or far away the background appears to be from the photograph’s main subject. Focal length plays a big part in varying how the subject of a picture is expressed.

• The shorter the focal length of the lens, the more this effect is expressed
• The longer the focal length of the lens the less this effect is expressed and the more compressed the image looks

In this example, the subject remains the same size, while the shooting distance changes.

The wide-angle 16mm (short focal length) lens shot shows the background in focus stretching far into the distance, exaggerating the space between the subject and the background.

The telephoto zoom 200mm (long focal length) lens shot compresses the space between the subject and the background showing the background as much closer to the subject, but blurred and indistinct.