High Speed Photography

Celebration Of High-Speed Photography
This post is supposed to provide you with some inspiration of what can be done with high-speed photography. It also showcases some truly stunning slow-motion videos.

DIY - High Speed Photography at Home
This guide describes how to capture super fast movements using ordinary camera gear and a little home made electronics. It describes the setup used, the common problems and what can be done to solve them.

Home-Made High Speed Photography (PDF)
Pictures of high-speed events such as popping balloons, breaking glass, and splashing liquids reveal interesting structures not visible to the naked eye. With this guide you can take your own high-speed photos to captures these ephemeral events. A very detailed tutorial.

Quick guide to Simple High Speed Macro Photography
This is a quick tutorial to get you started with high speed photography. There are tons of other resources on the web, but most of them are advanced and require special equipment. This one is simple and basic.

2. Tilt-Shift Photography

Tilt-shift photography refers to the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras; it usually requires the use of special lenses.

“Tilt-shift” actually encompasses two different types of movements: rotation of the lens relative to the image plane, called tilt, and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane, called shift. Tilt is used to control the orientation of the plane of focus (PoF), and hence the part of an image that appears sharp; it makes use of the Scheimpflug principle. Shift is used to change the line of sight while avoiding the convergence of parallel lines, as when photographing tall buildings.

Another, less cost-intensive technique called “tilt-shift miniature faking” is a process in which a photograph of a life-sized location or object is manipulated so that it looks like a photograph of a miniature-scale model.

50 Beautiful Examples Of Tilt-Shift Photography

Tilt-Shift Photography Photoshop Tutorial
This tutorial was produced using Photoshop CS2 on a PC.

Receding Hairline
With very little effort, you can take existing photographs of everyday scenes and make them look like miniature models.

Free Auto Tilt-Shift Photoshop Action
Plug-and-play solution for preparing your photos.

3. Black and White Photography

Beautiful Black and White Photography
One of the most beautiful inspirational posts on Smashing Magazine, featuring over 50 brilliant works from photographers across the globe.

5 Black and White Photography Tips
A short, but useful article by by Darren Rowse, featuring shoot in RAW, low ISO and other techniques. You may also consider reading the articles Key Ingredients for Black and White Images

Black and White Photography Guide
Black and white photography starts before the shot is even taken. In this article you’ll find some quick tips on what to look for to ensure the perfect black and white landscape - e.g. camera settings for black and white photography and what filters are good for black and white landscapes.

Digital Black and White
This site features professional photography articles written by Keith Cooper. It covers black/white-photography-techniques, image manipulation techniques, tools, articles and camera reviews.

The Top 5 Black & White Photography Tips
Five handy tips to get you going in the right direction: practice, focus on contrast, focus on texture, use color filters and more. If you want to learn more about the actual black and white conversion process in Photoshop, see the article 12 Ways to Make a Black & White Photo as well.

4. Motion Blur Photography

45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos
A showcase of motion blur photos. Motion blur is frequently used to show a sense of speed. You can artificially achieve this effect in a usual scene using cameras with a slow shutter speed. Also Adobe Photoshop can be used for this purpose, though sometimes images may look unnatural and unprofessional.

How to Capture Motion Blur in Photography
Capturing movement in images is something that many photographers only need to do when photographing sports or other fast-moving events.

Professional-Looking Motion-Blur Effect for Your Images
“In this tutorial we’re going to show you how to create a very popular motion blur effect used in many magazine and various other professionally crafted images.”

Photoshop Tutorials: Create Silky Smooth Waterfalls
“In this Adobe Photoshop tutorial, we’re going to look at how to give waterfalls a silky smooth appearance, as if the photo were taken with a longer exposure, which would normally require the use of a neutral density filter.”

Long Exposure Photos
Long exposure can be used to create very interesting photographs. It can be used, for example, to create a bright photo in low-light conditions or to create motion blur for moving elements in a photograph

5. Infrared Photography

40 Incredible Near-Infrared Photos
A showcase of near-infrared photography. Near-infrared images straight out of the camera do not always look good and are usually not as dramatic and beautiful as normally captured images. Hence, a lot of post-processing is done to enhance these images.

Infrared Photography with a Digital Camera
Thanks to digital photography, we can take infrared pictures whenever we please, mix them with “normal” ones and see the results on the spot, tweaking the settings to our heart’s desire.

InfraRed photography
A specialized IR portal, with gallery and forum.

LifePixel
Rich collection of manuals, how-to and do-it-yourself guides.

Beyond Visible
Website about IR, UV and luminescence photography. Here you can found plenty of theory and useful information about IR adaptors for flashlights. Among the resources is a huge collection of links related to invisible light photography.

Infrared (IR)
A gallery with a number of amazing IR photos.

Infrared photography
Huge article with a number of useful links. Nearly complete list of IR filters and digital cameras that can be updated for IR shooting.

6. Night Photography

60 Beautiful Examples Of Night Photography
60 amazing examples of night photography, created by some hard-working and dedicated photographers. Take a look at their websites and portfolios.

The Nocturnes
The Nocturnes is an organization dedicated to night photography. Founded by Tim Baskerville in San Francisco in 1991, it has grown to become the premier source of information and education on night photography, as well as an international community for night photographers.

Lost America night photography
Wandering the deserted backroads of the American Southwest, Troy Paiva has explored the abandoned underbelly of America since the 1970s. Since 1989 he’s been taking pictures of it… at night, by the light of the full moon.

Long Exposure Night Photography
This article shows you how to take pictures of night scenes with no moving objects.

Night Photography by David Baldwin
Night photography of landscapes and architecture.

“Strangers in the night”
How-to guide for night photography with point-and-shoot cameras.

(removed due to errors)
Some solutions for avoiding typical problems with night photography.

Learn Night Photography
Quick and dirty guide to defining exposure time for typical night subjects.

Night Landscape Photography
Capture stunning landscape images during the black of night.

7. Smoke Art Photography

Smoke Photography and Smoke Art
A round-up of some of the best examples of photos and artworks where smoke dominates.

Smoke Art Photography - An Introduction
This articles features smoke art photography tips from Stoffel De Roover; it describes the typical setup, important techniques and necessary adjustments for a perfect smoke art photo.

Smoke Art: Professional’s Notes
Personal photography notes from Graham Jeffery that are part instruction, and part a description of his own technique, and a few things that he has discovered along the way.

Photographing Smoke
The interview with Graham Jefferey, of Sensitive Light fame (see the link above), with interesting insights into practice and handy tips and tricks. Learn how to get the smoke right, how to set up the perfect lighting and exposure and how to manipulate images digitally.

How to photograph smoke - Photography podcast
This podcast talks about how to photograph smoke in a professional way. It discusses photographing different types of smoke including incense, outdoor smoke and liquid nitrogen.

How to: Smoke Photography
This simple guide describes a set up for smoke art photography.

Smoke photography video tutorial
Video tutorial on smoke photography.

Make: How-To Smoke Photography
Learn how to create and shoot sculptures made with smoke and how to paint with smoke.

8. Macro Photography

25 Beautiful Macro Photography Shots
A round-up of some truly revealing and inspiring macro photographs which are sure to have you marveling at the world around you.

Macro Photography
How to take close-up pictures of small things, by Philip Greenspun

Introduction to Macro Photography
Set-up and camera settings for macro photography (8-minute video).

Reversing Lenses for Macro Photography
A guide to building a lens for extreme macro shooting.

Woven Shadows
Digital photography video tutorial (48 MB).

Macro photography
A round-up of gadgets that will help you move really close to your subject.

Captain’s European Butterfly Guide
Engaging guide for this special kind of hunting (of course, you can use it outside of Europe, too).

Macro Photography Tips for Point and Shoot Digital Cameras
Most of the articles here are geared to DSLR owners. But they are also useful for macro photography with compact cameras, too.

Extreme Macro Photography on a Budget
DIY extreme macro lens with a Pringles container.

Macrophoto Journal on deviantART
A number of excellent photos, forums and technical articles.

Macro Photography Tutorial
Short review on insect shooting, and amazing photos by M. Plonsky, PhD.

9. HDR

If you don’t like these kinds of photos, please move along. No complaints will be accepted.

35 Fantastic HDR Pictures
This post covers 35 beautiful and perfectly executed HDR pictures. Some of them may look surreal, too colorful, even magic or fake, but they are not. Keep in mind that they’ve all been developed from normal photos; not a single image is an illustration.

HDR Tutorial
HDR how-to guide, mostly related to Mac users.

HDR: High Dynamic Range Photography
HDR how-to guide with Photoshop CS2

In-Camera HDR detailed tutorial
YouTube video tutorial

My HDR Tutorial
Clear tutorial on using your digital camera, Photomatix and Photoshop, by Markus Linke.

HDR tutorial
Tutorial on HDR with free-of-charge software GIMP and Qtpfsgui

HDR Tutorial
Tutorial on HDR with Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop CS2 and Photomatix Pro

10. RAW Processing

A raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor. Raw image files are sometimes called digital negatives, because they serve the same role as negatives in film photography. But unlike negatives, these files need much more processing.

RAW vs. JPEG: The Real Story
You can take the RAW image file and make all of your choices about size, color, contrast, etc., and then output it to a new original each time (which might be a JPEG). This is greatly aided by the fact that there’s 12-bit color. The software can make easier choices and less compromises.

Digital camera RAW converter comparision
This article is not an in-depth analysis of seven different programs. The goal is to give the reader an overview of each program’s features and capabilities and to provide reasonably accurate image comparisons. With Canon 1Ds Mk II, Canon 400D XTi, Canon 50D and Nikon D300 images

Choosing RAW Image Processing Software
The most expensive multi-function RAW processing software is not always the best for converting the wide range of current RAW image file formats.

RAW Processing Workflow Using Phase One’s Capture One 4
Capture One 4 is more than just a rewritten version of Phase One’s Capture One LE. It offers improved speed and quality of RAW conversion, and it builds on its strengths as a RAW-processing workflow tool.

Aperture, Lightroom and Capture One review:

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  Part 1
  
  
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  Part 2
  
  
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  Part 3
  
  
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  Part 4
  
  
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  Part 5

A full-range review of three of the most popular and powerful tools for RAW processing

Lightroom Presets: The Ultimate Free List
“The biggest, most updated list of free Adobe Lightroom presets. It’s true you can have too many, but this is the best jumping-off point for finding new presets. Taste as many as you like, then tell us your favorites.” Note that the presets don’t work with RAW and JPEG files the same.

11. Panoramic Photography

A panorama - or panoramic photo - is usually made by stitching several pictures taken with the same camera into one.

How To: Panoramic Photography
Making a panoramic photo really is only taking the pictures, stitching them together on your computer. The more effort and attention you put into the first step, the easier the second step will be and the more realistic your final photo will look.

Taking Panoramic Landscapes - The Easy Solution
Panoramas have a reputation for being hard to take. Dedicated panorama cameras are available, but unless you’ve got at least $1000 to spare, you probably can’t afford one! But you can take panoramas with any kind of camera.

Digital Photography Tutorial - Panorama Stitching
“Many digital cameras, even some budget-priced pocket compacts, have a feature known as “Panorama Stitching” mode. If you haven’t experimented with it yet, it is designed to help with a particular type of photograph, or rather series of photographs, in which successive shots are taken as the camera is panned across a scene.”

Building Panoramic Images in The GIMP
Panoramic landscapes make for some amazing photos. There’s nothing like the relaxation and tranquility felt when gazing over the sweeping wilderness, save for the hassle of actually getting there. Using a digital camera, it’s possible to stitch photos together to simulate the expensive effects of a landscape filter.

The easy way is to use Pandora. Pandora is a plug-in for The GIMP that tries to match the edges of the photos, using a best guess at where one photo ends and the next begins.

12. Special Issues

Architecture photography, a beginners’ guide
Insightful tips for photography of stationary subjects by Michael Jenkins. You may also want to learn how to shoot bridges, statues, buildings and piers.

Guide To Architectural Photography
Despite architecture’s diversity there are a number of simple rules that apply in most situations, or will at least get you thinking more deeply about how you can best portray a particular piece of architecture.

Fixing photos shot from airplanes
One of the cool things about getting a window seat in an airplane is that you get a unique opportunity to photograph things from a high vantage point. On the flip side, when you get home, you often find the photos look washed out and the color poor. Luckily, there is not much that Photoshop can’t recover, provided that the photographs are in focus.

DIY Lighting Hacks for Digital Photographers
“Lighting can be the difference between a good shot and a great one. Walk into most professional photographers’ studios, and you’ll be confronted with truckloads of lighting equipment. To the average hobby photographer, it’s enough to make your mind boggle - and make your stomach turn as you think about the cost of it all.

In this post, I’ve found 10 DIY flash and lighting hacks that put some of these lighting techniques within the grasp of the rest of us.”

Lighting simulator
A great tool to plan and test your portrait lighting with one light source, with fill light if wished

FAQ: Photo Filters
Optical filters function in digital photography much as they do in film work. Properly used, they can condition the light entering the camera in favorable ways - often in ways that post-processing can’t easily duplicate.

10 Top Photography Composition Rules
This post reviews important rules of good photography, such as Rules of Thirds, balancing elements, leading lines, symmetry and patterns, viewpoint, background, depth, framing, cropping and experimentation.

10 Tips to a Perfect Portfolio

Buy an Advertising Portfolio Case

You can find a standard black portfolio case for about $20 from your local office supplies store or an art supply shop. They come in several different sizes but you won’t need a very large one.

Purchase Extra Portfolio Pages

Your advertising portfolio case may come with some starter pages. These pages are protective plastic over a black page.

Go ahead and purchase a small pack of additional portfolio pages so you don’t have to worry about running out. You never know when you’ll need to add a new writing sample in a pinch and you don’t want to be without some extra pages.

Add Your Advertising Resume

Your advertising resume should be the first page of your portfolio. Even though you’ll send your resume to potential employers or clients, you’ll still want your resume in your portfolio. You could be one of hundreds of prospects so it never hurts to reintroduce yourself and your qualifications with the first page of your portfolio.

Decide On Your Best Writing Samples

Even if you don’t have many writing samples to your credit, you’ll need to pick out your best work for your portfolio. Don’t be afraid of using text on paper as some of your writing samples.

Many times, copywriters have a great project they’ve finished but the project is still in production and hasn’t gone to print yet. You don’t have that full-color brochure or that glossy print ad to put in your portfolio but you’ll want to show off your copy so you can land the next assignment.

This is also a similar case for the budding copywriter who has no official samples to showcase at all. You can create SPEC ADS, which are ads you’ve created on your own. In other words, you can rewrite an ad for a major company with your own style, label it as a SPEC AD and industry pros automatically know you’re showing your ability to write without you trying to mislead them into thinking you really wrote that Nike ad, for example.

Choose the work that best shows your copywriting talent, even if it is simple text on a piece of paper. We’ll dress it up in Step 6.

Create Divider Sections

Let’s say you’ve got three commercials, four samples of print (both brochures and print ads) and three samples of Web site copy you want to include in your advertising portfolio. Create divider sections to help your work stand out and not get lost in the clutter.

In our example here, we would create a divider page with a heading for Commercials, one for Print and then another for Web (or Internet). Remember, copywriting is a creative talent so don’t be afraid to get creative with your own portfolio.

Dig into your old magazines and cut out various pictures from ads. Arrange these so that your divider page appears like a collage, just like the picture above shows.

This helps your sections stand out on their own and shows your creativity at the same time. It really helps your portfolio become more memorable, which is a huge plus when you’re competing for a job or a client.

Dress Up Those Text Ads

Don’t think your text ad isn’t worth putting in your portfolio. You can dress up these ads and make them every bit as appealing as a full-color ad.

For copy you don’t have in final "pretty" form, you can simply put at the top of your page, "In Production." For copy that is written as a SPEC AD, meaning you wrote the ad on your own to show your writing ability, title it "SPEC AD."

Remember, employers viewing your copywriting portfolio are looking at your ability to write. They’re not hiring a graphic designer so don’t try to pretend you are one by wasting all of your time designing a mock-up ad so that your copy looks more finalized. Even seasoned copywriters put their best work in their portfolio and that doesn’t always mean they have the final printed version of the material so they use plain text on paper.

To dress up those plain text ads, print them on professional-quality paper. This is the same type of paper you would use to print a resume on.

To really make that text ad stand out, buy a decorative background paper and offset the two by about an inch. The image above shows an example of how great your sample can look with just a little extra effort.

Arrange Ads for Easy Access

Don’t glue your brochure down to the portfolio page and then hide it behind the protective plastic. Be willing to cut into the portfolio page so that the person looking at your portfolio can have easy access to the materials. This means you may have a brochure flap sticking out of the protective plastic but your prospect can easily see your work.

Your portfolio pages are also designed to protect your work. The last thing you want is a prospect wanting a closer look, so they start trying to feel the protective plastic back to get their hands on your materials.

Change Your Advertising Portfolio

Never be afraid to change your advertising portfolio’s pages to a client or employer’s specific needs. If you’re interviewing for an agency position that exclusively handles direct mail, load your portfolio up with direct mail samples. A hodgepodge of samples won’t do you as much good as the types of materials the agency specializes in.

Same goes for freelancing clients who need something specific. Your portfolio is your calling card and it will change with you and your prospect’s needs.

Take Extra Resumes

Yes, you’re in the employer’s office because he or she looked at your resume and called you in for an interview. As mentioned before, you could be one of hundreds of people going after the same advertising job.

Stuff some extra copies of your resume in the back flap of your portfolio case. Now you’ve got your first page of your portfolio with your resume as described in Step 3 and you can also hand a copy of your resume to the prospect for them to keep. This is especially handy in interviews when the employer or client just can’t seem to find your resume!

Never Leave Your Portfolio

"It’s the best portfolio I’ve ever seen! I just have to show it to my business partner."

What a great compliment. But never, ever leave your portfolio no matter how much you want the position.

Once your portfolio is out of your hands, you have no idea how it’s going to be handled. Portfolio cases can easily get damaged and even lost in an office. You don’t want your portfolio to end up stuffed in someone’s inbox with papers all over it while it also serves as a coaster for morning coffee like the one in the picture above.

You have a couple of options so you don’t offend anyone. You can say you would love to schedule another appointment to show your portfolio. Or you can even say you’ll be happy to fax over a copy of your portfolio, which is basically a black and white copy of all of the materials you’ve shown in your portfolio.

Salah satu kelebihan dari kamera Single Lens Reflex (SLR) baik yg konvensional (film) maupun yang digital (DSLR) adalah mudahnya kita mengganti lensa standard (kit) bawaan dari pabrik dengan lensa-lensa yang lainnya sesuai dengan selera ataupun kebutuhan.

Apa saja tipe-tipe lensa yang ada di pasaran yang biasa digunakan untuk ‘menulis dengan cahaya’ itu ? Berikut ini list daftar selengkapnya.

Lensa Normal
Lensa ini adalah lensa yang menghasilkan gambar dengan perspektif lebih natural jika dibandingkan dengan lensa jenis lain. Sebuah lensa dikategorikan sebagai lensa normal jika memiliki focal length yang setara dengan diagonal gambar yang diproyeksikan didalam sensor kamera.
Pada format 35mm, dimensi gambar yang diproyeksikan kedalam kamera adalah 36 mm x 24 mm (panjang x lebar), sehingga diagonal gambar tersebut adalah 43,27 mm atau setara dengan 50 mm. Lensa ini juga dikategorikan sebagai lensa primer karena memiliki beberapa keunggulan, antara lain :

1. 
   
   Memiliki bukaan diafragma maksimum yang lebih besar daripada lensa lain, seperti f.2, f:1,8 atau bahkan f1,2 sehingga dapat digunakan untuk memotret pada kondisi minim cahaya.
   
   
2. 
   
   Dapat menghasilkan gambar yang lebih kaya warna. Hal ini dimungkinkan karena dengan adanya bukaan diafragma yang maksimum, kamera dapat merekam lebih banyak cahaya

Lensa Wide-angle
Lensa ini kadang-kadang disebut lensa lebar. Seperti namanya lensa ini memiliki sudut pandang yang sangat lebar, bahkan pada beberapa lensa dapat memberikan sudut pandang mendekati 180 derajat. Pada prakteknya lensa jenis ini sering digunakan untuk memotret ruangan yang sempit atau untuk mengambil gambar sebuah benda secara utuh ketika benda tersebut berada relatif dekat dari pemotret.
Namun perlu diperhatikan bahwa gambar yang dihasilkan dari sebuah lensa wide-angle cenderung memiliki tingkat distorsi yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan gambar yang dihasilkan oleh lensa normal. Catatan lainnya, lensa ini tidak menghasilkan gambar sesuai dengan yang ditangkap oleh mata manusia, sebaliknya lensa ini memberikan kesan ‘lebih’ dari keadaan sebenarnya. Ruangan dapat terlihat ‘lebih’ tinggi, ‘lebih’ besar atau ‘lebih’ lebar dari ukuran sebenarnya.

Lensa makro
Lensa dengan ukuran 50mm, 90mm atau 100mm dengan tulisan makro merupakan lensa yang didesain khusus untuk memotret subyek yang sangat dekat dengan kamera atau benda-benda kecil lainnya. Perbedaan lensa 50mm biasa dengan lensa 50mm makro tentunya terletak pada jarak fokus terdekat lensa tersebut. Pada lensa 50mm biasa, jarak fokus terdekat dari lensa ke benda sekitar 50cm. Sedangkan untuk lensa 50mm makro, jarak fokus terdekatnya bisa hanya 2cm dari benda.
Lensa makro dapat pula digunakan untuk memotret benda yang jauh, tetapi tingkat ketajamannya sedikit rendah dibandingkan dengan lensa jenis lain, biasanya lensa jenis ini digunakan untuk memotret bunga, koin, tetes embun, kancing, serangga dan benda-benda kecil lainnya.

Lensa Zoom
Lensa ini dirancang untuk memiliki beberapa sudut pandang yang berbeda. Terdapat berbagai macam lensa zoom, mulai dari 2x zoom, 3x zoom (70 - 200mm), 10x zoom (35-350mm) sampai dengan 12x zoom. Untuk saat ini, lensa yang mempunyai lebih dari 3x zoom kurang mendapatkan gambar-gambar dengan kualitas yang konsisten. Oleh karena itu, pada umumnya pengguna lensa zoom profesional hanya menggunakan lensa 2x atau 3x zoom saja.
Beberapa lensa zoom merupakan lensa telephoto (200 - 400mm), beberapa yang lain merupakan lensa wide-angle (10 - 20mm, 16 - 25mm) dan sisanya mencakup wide-angle sampai telephoto (28 - 200mm, 35 - 35mm). Lensa pada kategori terakhir sering disebut sebagai lensa zoom ‘normal’ dan telah menggantikan lensa primer sebagai solusi penggunaan satu lensa untuk berbagai kondisi.

Lensa Telephoto
Terkenal akan kemampuannya untuk memperbesar obyek yang jauh, dan menghasilkan gambar yang tidak terdistorsi, lensa jenis ini merupakan lensa favorit untuk memotret pertandingan olahraga (sepakbola, basket, tenis, dll). Dan tak lupa juga untuk pementasan panggung (konser, teater, orkestra, dll). Tak luput pula para paparazzi pun menjadikan lensa jenis ini sebagai lensa andalannya.
Lensa telephoto dapat dikategorikan sebagai lensa telephoto normal (85mm, 100mm, 135mm, 200mm), lensa zoom telephoto (28-300mm, 55-200mm, 70-200mm, 90-300mm, 100-300mm) dan lensa super telephoto (300mm, 400mm, 500mm, 600mm).

Lensa Fisheye (mata ikan)
Dalam dunia fotografi, lensa fisheye adalah sebuah lensa wide-angle dengan kelebaran sudut pandang yang ekstrim. Area penglihatannya melebihi 100 derajat, atau bahkan kadang-kadang melampaui 180 derajat sehingga menghasilkan gambar-gambar dengan tingkat distorsi yang tinggi. Ruang tajamnya secara otomatis tidak terbatas dan pengaturan fokus kamera tidak terlalu diperlukan.
Awalnya lensa ini dikembangkan untuk digunakan dibidang astronomi, dan disebut ‘whole-sky lenses’. Kemudian lensa fisheye cepat menjadi populer dalam bidang fotografi karena keunikan distorsinya. Lensa ini sering digunakan untuk memotret hamparan pemandangan yang sangat luas sekaligus menonjolkan bentuk lengkung bumi.

Sumber : http://yudhiapr.blogdetik.com/2008/09/22/tipe-tipe-lensa-kamera-slr/