Focal length study

Ben Egbert · Oct 2, 2019

While I was at Christmas Meadows, I found the spot I prefer and then did compositions at the widest lens setting 24mm, 31mm and then 41mm. Any tighter would cut off the river.

I would like comments on these settings and your preferences. Try to ignore the clouds and reflections. Also, I took other images from different locations which I will post another time after this post has run it's course.

I want to get this forum energized and this could be a good learning thing for all of us, me and those of you who comment.

24mm

31mm

41mm

AlanLichty · Oct 2, 2019

For this particular scene I tend to favor the 41mm view. I don't really see that much interesting detail in the foreground grasses that tend to dominate the scene in the first two images especially in the lower left. The backdrop peaks of the high Uintah's are more prominent in the 41mm shot and I like their position in the frame relative to the amount of sky in the scene.

Last but by no means least I like the composition you got with the 41mm focal length. The large tree on the left feels more like a major element in the scene compared to the more subdued emphasis it gets in the other two images. Also like the increased emphasis the aspen get along the far slope on the left beyond the tree.

This is a really good example of "less is more" in terms of how engaging the resulting scene is. The first scene has all of the same elements as the last one but the last one does a better job of grabbing my attention.

Ben Egbert · Oct 2, 2019

Thanks a lot for your detailed reply, just what I was looking for. I normally shoot this scene at 30mm, in this case to get those aspen on the left side. Other times I have gone up to 50mm but further up the stream. And I almost always plan to crop, usually to 16x9. I do this because often I get home and wish I had a bit more to work with. Its easy to crop but hard to add stuff.

Jameel Hyder · Oct 2, 2019

Tend to agree with most of what Alan said.

My favorite focal length in this range is 35mm which would be between the 31 and 41. I'd also angle a bit to the left to get some of the aspens and lose a bit of the hill on the right.

Ben Egbert · Oct 2, 2019

Thanks a lot Jameel good idea on the rotation. I think I was trying to get the river to flow out of the lower right corner. A slight rotation would not ruin that

JimFox · Oct 3, 2019

Ben Egbert said:
Thanks a lot Jameel good idea on the rotation. I think I was trying to get the river to flow out of the lower right corner. A slight rotation would not ruin that

Not if you use the Warp tool Ben. With that, it's very easy to leave the lower right alone, while pulling up the horizon to be level.

JimFox · Oct 3, 2019

As to the 3 shots. It is an interesting study Ben.

I will shock everyone and go with the 41mm shot. I actually find those aspen a bit distracting, so I like how #3 removes that distraction. The fall color aspen are cool looking, but being as they are in the background and there is nothing on the right side to balance them visually, they just unbalance the scene in my eyes.

BarryHamilton · Oct 4, 2019

Of these the 31mm is my fave. I get a better sense of depth in the scene there.

Ben Egbert · Oct 4, 2019

AlanLichty said:
For this particular scene I tend to favor the 41mm view. I don't really see that much interesting detail in the foreground grasses that tend to dominate the scene in the first two images especially in the lower left. The backdrop peaks of the high Uintah's are more prominent in the 41mm shot and I like their position in the frame relative to the amount of sky in the scene.

Last but by no means least I like the composition you got with the 41mm focal length. The large tree on the left feels more like a major element in the scene compared to the more subdued emphasis it gets in the other two images. Also like the increased emphasis the aspen get along the far slope on the left beyond the tree.

This is a really good example of "less is more" in terms of how engaging the resulting scene is. The first scene has all of the same elements as the last one but the last one does a better job of grabbing my attention.

Thanks Alan, I think I could have moved forward a bit and used about 35 mm to get what you like.

Jameel Hyder said:
Tend to agree with most of what Alan said.

My favorite focal length in this range is 35mm which would be between the 31 and 41. I'd also angle a bit to the left to get some of the aspens and lose a bit of the hill on the right.

I agree, 35 is probably about ideal. Of course it's easy to crop this image.

Ben Egbert said:
Thanks a lot Jameel good idea on the rotation. I think I was trying to get the river to flow out of the lower right corner. A slight rotation would not ruin that

JimFox said:
As to the 3 shots. It is an interesting study Ben.

I will shock everyone and go with the 41mm shot. I actually find those aspen a bit distracting, so I like how #3 removes that distraction. The fall color aspen are cool looking, but being as they are in the background and there is nothing on the right side to balance them visually, they just unbalance the scene in my eyes.

When I printed my sunset image, I rotated it to appear straighter. It worked out fine. You are probably right. In the spring time, I put that tree almost at the edge of the frame because the aspen are not noticeable then.

BarryHamilton said:
Of these the 31mm is my fave. I get a better sense of depth in the scene there.

Thanks Barry. Much appreciated.

Kyle Jones · Oct 4, 2019

I'm in the 41mm camp too. Part of that just comes from the fact that I like capturing reflections of mountains and the tighter composition emphasizes that. I also agree with Jim that while the Aspen grove is nice, it is too small to really play a factor in the image and can be distracting hanging out on the edge like that.

Jim Dockery · Oct 14, 2019

41mm for me too. I’d like to see an even tighter composition (55mm?) loosing the tree on the left to put even more emphasis on the mountains.

Focal length study

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper

AlanLichty

Moderator

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper

Jameel Hyder

Moderator

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper

JimFox

Moderator

JimFox

Moderator

BarryHamilton

Founding Member

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper

Kyle Jones

Moderator

Jim Dockery

Well-Known Member