Shooting tips

The zoom lens not only affects how large the subject is in the picture, but it also influences the depth of field and perspective. Depth of field is the area between the closest object in focus and the furthest object in focus. As the lens zooms in to the telephoto position, the depth of field becomes shallower, separating the subject from the background. Many portraits are taken with telephoto lenses. Zooming the lens out to the wide-angle position makes both the foreground and background appear sharper. Usually landscape photographs take advantage of the large depth of field of wide-angle lenses. Wide-angle lenses also create a strong perspective which gives a sense of depth in the image. Telephoto lenses compress the space between the subject and background and create a weak perspective.

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