Want to create interactive content? It’s easy in Genially!
Perspective in Photography
Cindy
Created on March 29, 2025
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
Transcript
Info
Perspective in Photography
This activity is not graded. When you're ready to move on, select "Next" in Canvas to proceed to the next lesson.
How does the focal length impact perspective? In this activity, you will explore three uses photography uses cases.Select any of the categories to get started.
Explore Perspective
Activity
Images: David Chapman
Notice how the perspective here is compressed. It's hard to tell exactly how far away the background is from the subject. The image looks more 2D. Telephoto lenses are popular in wildlife photography, especially when the taking photos of animals from a distance.
Here, the perspective makes the main penguin look very large and the other penguins look small in comparison, giving a 3D effect. Some photographers use wide lenses for creative purposes. However, wide lenses require you to get close to the animal which may not always be feasible.
Telephoto Lens
Wide Lens
16mm
22mm
45mm
Images: Cooper et al.
As the focal length increases, the subject's face appears flatter. The standard lens (45mm) is the most natural perspective - this is likely what the subject looks like in real life. The telephoto lens (216mm) makes the subject's face look wider than in reality.
Notice how distorted the subject's face looks when wide-angle lenses (16mm , 22mm) are used. The distance between the nose and the ear looks further - this is because you generally have to stand closer to the subject with wide angle lenses.
Longer Lenses
Wider Lenses
216mm
Images: Todd Henson Photogtaphy
Notice how close together the two waterfalls look. The scene is compressed.
At 50mm, this focal length more closely resembles what the human eye sees.
Notice how far apart the two waterfalls appear. The perspective is stretched out, pushing the foreground and background futher apart.