Day 115 – Long Jump / Musings on Wide-Angle Shots

*Note: It is necessary to view the large version of today and yesterday’s photos to understand what I am talking about in this post. You can do so by clicking on the photos.

I use my wide-angle lens often, and almost always at the risk of taking too much in. The frame gets so many things in it that it becomes too busy. Therefore, I typically try to use it to get very close to my subjects, while still getting all the necessary components into the frame.

Yesterday, I tried something else. I used my wide-angle to try and capture the action and excitement of a track meet, where there is always something happening and never a dull moment. In the photo I posted yesterday, I put my wide-angle lens on and got as close to the water pit as I could, and tried to capture multiple stages at once: runners approaching the barrier, runners jumping over it, runners in the air, runners landing in the water, and runners exiting it and continuing on. Instead of taking multiple photos, I was able to get it all in with one shot.

I tried to do the same thing with the photo above, only there is just one athlete. By being able to see the approach, the sand pit, the sand raker, the ref, the stands, and part of the in-field, I think it tells a more complete story of what happens at a track meet in just one shot. I especially like the jumper’s shadow here. I know I risk having too much in the photo, but I think it works well in some situations. I think these track photos are one of those situations. I don’t plan to use this all the time, but I think it is a useful tool when one can pull it off.

What are your thoughts on this? Leave a comment.