Awhile back I started this whole perspective series in which I talked about getting down low when you shoot. I'm hitting it from a different angle today and not talking about angles at all but rather about the distortion that can occur when shooting with a wide angle lens. (I'll tackle other lenses like tele-photo etc. later on)
We all know that one way our eyes perceive near or far is by the relative size of an object. Quite simply, our mind tells us that objects farther away appear smaller and the farther away, the smaller an object looks to us. Got that?
In photography, perspective is identified in just this same way.
That is, distant objects appear smaller than nearby objects of the same size. This is why when you shoot something with parallel lines, like the train tracks pictured above, the tracks appear to get closer together the farther down them that you look. If this photo went on even farther the tracks would at some point appear to converge. What's happening is that the apparent distance between the two rails of the track is getting smaller and smaller.
The danger then lies in getting too close to subjects causing the closest element to the lens to appear extremely large. So if you're shooting a portrait with a 50mm lens and you want to fill up much of the frame with the person you get in really tight, right? Problem is, the part closest to you, usually the subjects nose, will be distorted and look extremely large. Not exactly the look the person is likely going for.
Of course, this can make for a cool effect when you want something to seem larger than life. I just don't recommend this be your subjects nose!
An easy solution is to back away from your subject but in order to fill the frame you'll need a larger lens. For portraits anything from an 85mm to a 135mm will eliminate the distortion.
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