The Power of Lenses and Focal Length

Lens focal length is one of those topics that seems simple on the surface. You might think it is just about how zoomed in or zoomed out your shot is. But in reality, the focal length you choose has a huge impact on how your image looks, and more importantly, how it feels.

Lenses can completely change the way someone looks on camera. They also have a big effect on how the background appears in your frame. Something as basic as choosing a 35mm lens versus an 85mm lens can completely change the tone of a shot and what it communicates to the viewer.

When it comes to filming people, focal length plays a major role in how faces are perceived. In my experience, longer focal lengths like 50mm and above tend to be more flattering. This is because of a phenomenon called compression distortion, where facial features appear flatter and slightly wider. The result usually makes people look more attractive. On the other hand, wide-angle lenses can exaggerate features, especially when the subject is close to the camera. Noses look larger, faces stretch out, and sometimes the effect feels a little cartoonish. Here is an example where another photographer has shot the same subject from different focal lengths. You can really see how the face transforms as the focal length increases.

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Focal length also affects how the background looks. I always take this into account when choosing the right lens for a project. Longer lenses make the background appear closer and larger, something referred to as background compression. It really does feel like magic. When you throw a telephoto lens on the camera, the background can suddenly look twice or three times as big. This can look amazing when you are filming in front of mountains, city skylines, or anything with strong visual impact. It adds a cinematic quality that I really love.

Here is an example. I took this self portrait in Glacier National Park with a telephoto lens. The mountain behind me looks massive, much larger than it did in person. That is the effect of background compression in action. If I had a longer lens available I could have made the background even larger, but that would have been too heavy for a hike.