A Distorted View

Of course using interesting lighting, compositions, different points of views, and different "rules" or known techniques (also a photographers personal techniques) while shooting pictures makes them artistic and draws attention. It also makes the media of photography very dynamic, diverse, and different. These details are things that make photographers' works their own; the way they portray scenes and objects through a picture really creates their own style. Usually at some point, a trend appears. A trend of techniques used in photographs that a photographer beings to use frequently. It's almost like a trademark if you think about it, or maybe a signature. Basically, it's what makes a photographers work stand out the way they want it to while ensuring that it is their own, and it gives off the feelings, thoughts, and anything they wanted the viewer to know about their work.

There are many other ways to really give an image a new, refreshing, and interesting look. Using different types of lenses is a huge influence on the composition of a picture as well as the feelings and mood it gives off. I'll talk about a few different types of lenses and what they do.

One of the most popular (and my personal favorite) lens is a fisheye.

There are two types of fisheye lenses:

• Circular lens: it has a 180° field of view, sometimes more, and it creates a circular, strongly distorted image in the center of the picture (Zurek)
• Full-Frame lens: it has a slightly less than 180° field of view and it creates an image that covers the full frame and with much less distortion (Zurek)

Circular Fisheye Lens (Photo from sigmaphoto.com)





Full-Frame Fisheye Lens (Photo found through Google)



This type of lens would be useful for many different compositions. Sport and action shots would look really cool with the distortion it creates. It would also give landscapes a very different and unique look as well, especially if it's with an aerial perspective. A fisheye lens is really helpful when taking panoramic or interior shots; in confined spaces this lens enables a photographer to get the entire view, not just a portion of it like a regular lens. This also means it would take less photographs of a scene to create a panoramic image (multiple pictures that show a large scene). 

Wide Angle Lens (Photo found through Google)

Another lens is called a wide angle lens. This lens has the "capability to stretch perspective"; this means that with a wide angle lens, it seems that the distance between objects in the photo has extended (objects that are not so distant could appear too far away) and the proportion of objects dramatically increases (an object close to the camera looks enormous while those that are farther away nearly disappear) (Zolin). This is created because the point of view is at around 55° across the widest part ("Using Wide...") A wide angle lens is useful if you want to really emphasize an object and create a dramatic image. It is also good for enclosed, confined spaces because it can give the impression that it is roomy and not-so-cramped.

These are only two of many lenses that a photographer can use to create a unique look to their work. Lenses are a very important and useful tool that can give a picture a completely different feel.

References

"Using Wide Angle Lenses." Cambridge in Colour. Cambridge in Colour, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.

Zolin, Roman. "Wide Angle Lens." Artificial Rainbow. Roman R. Zolin Photography, Aug. 2005. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.

Zurek, Piotr. "What Can A Fisheye Lens Be Useful For?" Photography. Stack Exchange, 1 Aug. 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.