Wide lenses cause distortion, and other photography myths busted
Mar 4, 2024
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Wide lenses cause distortion, and other photography myths busted
Mar 4, 2024
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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I’ve always been of the belief that it’s important to be accurate when it comes to discussing the technicalities of photography. That includes using the right terms and knowing what you’re talking about. Shouldn’t there be some kind of minimum standard?
I know that all sounds very elitist and gate-keepery of me, but apparently, I’m not alone. That opinion is also shared by photographer Tyler Stalman.
Wide Lenses Cause Distortion
This is one of the more interesting myths. There are, obviously, lens aberrations that cause distortions such as barrel or pincushion. However, wide-angle lenses don’t inherently distort reality. Inversely, long focal lengths don’t cause “compression”.
I’ll let you watch the video above to understand why, and yes there are caveats, but in short, it’s how far away from stuff we are that determines perspective.
It’s a misunderstanding in photography that’s been tackled before. Several times. Also, yes, cropping and zooming are effectively the same thing, optically speaking. The only difference is you’re losing resolution when you crop.
Not the only controversial one
Tyler touches on a few other potentially controversial topics in his video. Are tripods really an essential photography tool? Do you actually understand what people mean by “colour science”? And is it really unprofessional to use flash?
There are a lot of myths discussed in this video, although the majority of the time is spent on the wide-angle lens debate. These aren’t the only photography myths out there, though. What photography myths do you always see people getting wrong?
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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