Today we’re talking all about lenses. The different types of lenses, focal lengths and how to know what’s right for you.

First off, we need to differenciate between fixed focal lengths and zoom lenses. Fixed focals have – as the name says – one fixed focal lenght. With zoom lenses you can use focal lenghts from 50mm to 200mm for example. Zoom lenses are not as good in low light situations and the f-stop is always higher. With a fixed focal lenght of 35mm you can have f1.4, but on a zoom lens you can only go as low as 3.5 for example. So the backdrop won’t ever be as blurred with zoom lenses.

I will only be talking about fixed focal lenghts in this post, because that’s what I work with and prefer. Fixed focals also force you to be more creative, but more on that later. Let’s get into the different focal lengths first :)

Below you can see four different images. The photos were taken from the exact same distance to the model, but the focal lenghts were different. In the first photo I used a 35mm lens, in the second a 50mm, in the third a 105mm and in the fourth a 150mm.

The different lenses “pull” the model closer to the camera, and the background of the photo changes aswell. In the photo taken with the 35mm you can see the backdrop pretty good, in the 105mm it’s very blurry and you can only guess what’s behind.

With wider lenses, like the 35mm, you get a lot more distortion of the image. You can fix this fairly easy in Lightroom, but for classic portraits this can look a little weird because the nose looks bigger and it weirdly pulls the face back. So if you’re wanting to photograph portraits I would suggest using 50mm and up.

In the studio I always use a 105mm lens, because this lens has absolutely zero distortion. For Beauty Photography this is extremly important, because a pulled back face and big nose makes the photo look weird – especially if you only look at the face – which usually is the case in Beauty.

For lifestyle of film-like photography a 35mm is perfect! You can shoot nice photos if people from the waist up and still get a lot of the backdrop that is important for thid kind of photography. You can also create more interesting angles, like in the image below!

Before you purchase any lens, think about the ways you’re going to use it. You should have more than one way of using a lens to get the most out of it. I use my 105mm for the Studio and for Closeups at weddings. My 35mm I use for outdoor-lifestyle portraits, weddings, travel and basically everywhere else too (besides Studio). The 50mm is for more classic portraits outdoors, and I also use it for weddings when I have to be further away from the couple but I need closer shots.

If there’s really only one way I can ever use a lens I wouldn’t buy it – lenses are really expensive and it would just not be worth it to me. Having said that, I also don’t think you need 10 different lenses for any occasion. Get 2-3 good ones and get creative with them! Especially with fixed focal lengths you really have to get creative with framing and move around a lot – and I really like that because it forces you to try new things in your photography.

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