| Introduction
A telephoto lens is technically defined as a lens longer than the standard focal length of 50mm. As such, lenses with focal length of 85mm and above can be classified as telephoto lenses. Compared to wide-angle lenses, it is much simpler to use a telephoto lens as issues such as distortions and vignetting do not appear as much in telephoto lens. However, telephoto lenses presents its own unique set of handling techniques which I will explain in this article. |
| The basics - keep it steady
As most of you know by now, the longer the focal length of the lens, the more difficult it is to keep it steady. A longer focal length magnifies the size of the subject in the image, so any camera shake will be magnified proportionately. A 200mm lens will magnify a subject more than a 50mm lens, so any image shake is more evident in the final image. This is compounded by the fact that longer lenses are usually more heavy than wider lenses. Proper holding techniques are the prerequisites to taking great telephoto pictures! How do you hand hold a telephoto lens? Your left hand should hold the lens firmly (but not too tightly), while your right hand operates the controls on the camera. The weight of the camera and lens should be mostly (but not totally) on the left hand, leaving the right hand free to operate the camera and direct the direction of the camera. Each lens has a position known as the center of gravity - a point where the lens is balanced best. You can find out for yourself where this point is by holding the lens with the camera, and holding it at various positions. The point where the entire feels most balanced in your left hand is the center of gravity. Why is it important to hold the lens at this position? Because it is most balanced at this point and you do not need to focus on fighting against unecessary upwards and downwards motion. Always try to hold the setup at the centre of gravity at the moment of shooting, so you spend less effort balancing the setup and more focus goes into the picture-taking process. |
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Tuck your elbows into your body to create a triangular formation, which will allow you to steady the lens better. This position allows your upper arm to rest against your chest, lessening the burden of the lens on your biceps. Of course, this means that the lens will move with every movement of your chest, so proper breathing technique is in order. Before you shoot, take a half-breath by filling your lungs partially with air, hold it for a few seconds and then fire off by pressing the shutter release button fully and not releasing it abruptly. The rationale behind the technique is simple. When you fill your lungs with air completely or when the lungs are totally empty of air, you feel uncomfortable and you're thus unable to focus on the shooting. The few seconds afforded by the partial fill of air gives you enough time to fire off your shot. Do not squeeze the shutter button abruptly as this may lead to camera shake, but gently depress and hold it for a couple of seconds after the shutter has fired. Push the camera against your face (don't overdo it though) for greater stability. |
| Always use a tripod for optimum sharpness if
you can, but if you are unable to use a tripod, there are various holding
techniques to assist you in getting better stability while shooting. If
there are walls, benches, trees or lamp posts to lean on, they can provide
a very stable support for you.
Alternatively, if you have a bag or a jacket, you may also use it as a soft support to prop your lens against. Some photographers use a soft bag filled with beans or sand to support their long lens, while being able to shift the lens in a flexible manner due to the non-rigidity of the bag support.
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Leaning against a wall or lamp post |
| The most common uses for telephoto lens seem to be wildlife photography,sports and candid pictures. Because of the strong magnification power of the telephoto lenses and distance of such subjects, telephoto lens seems to be known to some as "wildlife" lenses. Telephoto lenses are indeed ideal for reaching out to such unapproachable subjects, bringing them "closer" to you with powerful magnification. For more approachable and bigger wildlife creatures such as racoons and elephants, focal lengths such as 200mm to 300mm are sufficient for capturing them on film. For other creatures such as smaller birds and wild tigers, it is not unusually to require focal lengths of 600mm or more. |
Reaching out to distant subjects
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Telephoto lens used in sports photography |
Telephoto lens used for candids |
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Selective focus
The longer the focal length, the less depth of field the lens has. Telephoto lenses have very narrow depth of field, which makes accurate focusing much critical than when shooting with wide-angle lenses. This can also be used to good effect, when you want to use selective focus to draw attention to a certain aspect of the image. Many portrait photographers prefer to use longer telephoto lenses (such as 135mm or 200mm) for the narrow depth of field, so that only the subject is in focus and the background is blurred to focus the attention only on the subject. In such cases of selective focus, make sure that at least the eyes of the subject are in focus. |
| In the image of the autumn maple leaves on the right, I photographed them with a 180mm lens shot wide-open at f/2.8 to throw the background out-of-focus. Not only does it focus the attention on the leaves, it also makes the subject looks more crisp and sharp because the eye is forced to focus on the areas that are sharp. |  |
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Compression effect
The optical nature of the telephoto lens creates the illusion of bringing the foreground and the background closer together, creating a compression effect. The image of the left illustrates how the background seems so compressed with the foreground, making it seem so much closer than in reality. This optical quality of telephoto lens is used by some photographers to make repeating patterns more obvious. |
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Isolation technique
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