Exercise: Focal length

Outline: Plan to make exactly the same framing to the face with a variety of focal lengths. 

This was a quick and easy exercise but with dramatic results. I used two different lenses for this exercise; an 18-55mm and a 28-90mm.  Here are the results, firstly using the 18-55mm lens.

55mm focal length

This is a great shot. All the facial features are in perspective and equally grab the viewers attention. The face looks pretty much normal to the eye.

35 mm focal length

This shot would still be acceptable however the nose is starting to take focus over the other facial features.

18mm focal length

This is the widest angle of this lens and looks dreadful in comparison to the other two shots. I know that the face is slightly off centre in this shot however the perspective has changed with drastic results from the first image. Instead of appearing flat, the face now looks curved and the the nose and mouth look bigger than normal. Also, the face looks long and narrow now and not true to real life. This makes the subject far less attractive.

Second lens shots

24mm focal length

This time I have shown the results from wide angle first. At first glance this image looks acceptable. As above the face looks long and narrow and the face appears very oval and curved, showing the perspective is present.

52 mm focal length

This image is very similar to the first image of the exercise, seems as there is not much difference in focal length. A perfectly good shot, facial features appear more realistic as the perspective flattens.

90mm focal length

This is the best shot of the whole exercise. Even compared to the previous shot and the first of the exercise, the nose appears a lot smaller and the face looks as it does to look at. 

Conclusion:

This exercise has really opened my eyes. I thought the 55mm shot was great, completely in proportion and then I saw the 90mm shot where everything was even more compacted and the perspective was even flatter. I agree that the wide angle lens used closer makes the face look distorted and not like it does actually looking at the person. This exaggerates the importance of actually moving with your camera as opposed to just using the lenses.