Almost every good quality camera on the market comes with some type of zoom function. What’s funny about zooms is that they are almost always used incorrectly or never used at all. Many beginning photographers consider the zoom to be the far away things functionality and never understand what an impact using it correctly can have on their work. Keeping that in mind, here are some ways to use your zoom the next time you’re out taking pictures.
Crop, Crop, Crop
In a perfect world, no piece of photography software would have to come with a crop feature. If youre unfamiliar with the term, cropping an image” simply means cutting out all of the extra stuff in the frame that the photographer should have cut out while they were shooting the picture. Rather than cropping the junk out of the background afterwards, make use of your camera’s zoom and fill the frame with only the important parts of the image. Think of this like what you would when selecting a picture frame for your photo – you’d simply get a smaller picture frame to remove the extra stuff. Pictures of family gatherings are notorious for this one if youre taking a picture of the birthday boy or girl, you probably dont need to get the rest of the restaurant in the photograph.
Stand Back
No camera lens reflects the actual subject with 100% accuracy. In every kind of lens there is a tiny bit of distortion, and this can and should inform your decisions with your camera zoom. For example, taking portraits with a zoom lens from a little farther away will give you much better results than putting the camera right in someone’s face. Give it a shot the next time you take portrait-style photographs. Take a few up close then take a few with the zoom and see which your subject likes more.
Nicely Spy on Your Loved Ones
If you do have a powerful camera zoom or a great lens, it may be time to start being a little sneaky. Naturally its never a good idea to invade the privacy of your friends and family, but candid photographs are some of the best at capturing the people you love as their natural selves. When youre far from the action, people act more natural and youll find that you capture amazing moments that might have been missed if everyone was paying attention to the camera.
Zoom isnt a tool to only be used when youre far away. You should use it to improve your composition, make your subject comfortable and capture unplanned moments otherwise difficult to capture. A lens that is capable of zooming is a powerful and flexible ally in your quest to become a great photographer, so try and find new and creative ways to use it. You will love the results.
