Did anyone else get super nervous when he placed the lens on the top of the trash can?? Drove me nuts

this vid is 6 years old, yet the quality is 👌👌👏👏

I have literally spent hours watching videos about photography on youtube and you sir are the most informative and easy to understand. thank you

holy ####... a 2012 tutorial like this was helpful more then those 2019 tutorials on youtube this days thank you so much man !

I can't understand why this has any thumbs down, it's the best video I've seen on the subject, well explain and great examples. Well done Mike.

A good video on an often overlooked topic. When I was on a group holiday in northern India, everyone was keen to get pictures of the mighty Kanchenjunga (3rd highest mountain in the world). The guides knew a spot where you could sit with some flowers around and with Kanchenjunga behind. I was the first to arrive and picked my spot to take the photograph several yards back from the seat. The rest of the party arrived and all started taking pictures of their partners from close range. They had almost all finished when one of the party declared how disappointing it was that that when she framed the picture the mountain behind looked so small and not at all how she visualised it. I suggested she stepped back to where I was standing and to try again, she was amazed that by zooming in so her partner was the same size in the frame, the mountain behind now looked enormous. Having been a keen photographer for a number of years, I was surprised at how many people had not realised how you can change a composition by changing your viewpoint and the focal length of your lens. I have heard photographers say your feet are your best zoom lens, but sometimes it is the two together that deliver the results you want.

OMG never realised how different focal lengths affect my images until I tried your tip (I'm a newbie). Many thxs

+Nasser Alsharaf I can't answer your comment directly - you need to change your G+ settings. No I'm not saying don't zoom. I'm saying choose the zoom setting for the look you want then move yourself to make things fit the frame the way you want them to.

"I hate camera straps, they drive me around the bend" - worth it for that lol

Thank you for breaking the concept of focal length in such a simple yet elegant demonstration. Now i understand it well. Onceagain thank you.

10 years ago since I saw this first time. I always recommend you Mike for people wanted to learn photography, and go watch your videos, because you is a really good teacher.

In film, this effect we witnessed here is called dolly zoom. The focus stays on the fixed object, but the camera moves backward or forward, so it opens up or narrows down the field of view while the focused object stays the same size. Good for eerie or surreal shots, prominent examples being Vertigo or Goodfellas.

I'm an amateur photographer. I found this out (focal length) one morning by accident. Was shooting a Silver Frost in Wyoming USA, shot with a 18-55MM Cannon kit lens, then changed to a 75-300MM and grabbed a VERY nice shot of a close up of a branch with a half inch of frost on it. The background became a very nice BOKEH . One of my favorite shots today. Learned a very good lesson about Focal Length that day, confirmed by your video, thank you.

Thank you Mike, Natasha and camera man for all your time, effort and knowledge.

"Zoom with your feet": That was the first thing I needed to learn once I moved away from the 18-55mm kit lens and started to work with primes.

Thank Mike for pointing out something that even seasoned photographers know, but often forget. And thanks for taking the time to do these informative videos.

Thank you Mike and Natasha for this wonderful explanation! :)

this is one of my favourite videos....It's amazing how an the focal length can change the shape of a face.

This really is an excellent explanation of focal length. Very well done Mike, Natasha and assistant.

Watched this video when it first came out, it just popped up on my side bar, so I watched it again. This video has not lost anything, good pace, good explanation and demonstration what focal lengths do. Good work Mike!

Wow, Mike is a fantastic teacher

Great Vid. I watched it a few years ago and came upon again. Still one of the best.

Now, this one brings on the nostalgia!! Not sure how many times I originally watched it, but it was a bunch. And the lock down has me going down Mike Brown memory lane via KZfaq. This one was one of your best and really did a great job of demonstrating the effect that different focal lengths have on images.....as well as the concept of thinking of zooms as a collection of primes, rather than as a mere "framing tool." 👍👍👍

You are truly the Bob Ross of photography. Keep your positive spirit.

+brianminkc I can't reply on your post "moral of the story .... shoot all your portraits with a 500 millimeter lens?" - you need to change your G+ privacy settings. Not really because it depends on where you are and what you want the portrait to look like. If you want a portrait that shows the environment or is wacky / dramatic, then a much shorter lens would be better. If you want to do the opposite then 200 - 500mm is an option.

ahh thats the first time i understood focal lengths. Thanks Mike!

Thanks for making this video. Superb clear and concise demonstration of the effect different focal lengths have on an image.

This was an awesome demonstration on focal lengths and much appreciated indeed!

I went straight out there but Natasha had already gone (7 & 1/2 years ago ) Great video!

On vacation I went to the famous Grand Teton Mountain Moulton Barns, set my lens at what I thought was the prescribed wide angle setting, stood 10 feet from the barn and shot away. To my dismay my viewfinder presented to me possibly the worst rendition of that scene ever produced. Then an experienced photographer came to my aid. He showed me that if the photo is about the background and not the foreground I should ditch the wide angle setting and stand way back and frame up with a telephoto setting. To my amazement I discovered that there was a beautiful mountain that rose up from behind that barn. I can’t thank that photographer enough for the help he gave me on that day.

Very practical advice and a good learning lesson for your camera and lens. Thank you for that thought of treating each focal length as a prime. Knew about moving myself but this was a nice perspctive to be given.

Natural presenter and teacher. Very good video!! Thanks!

Sad thing is that many photographers mistake having a maximum of blur in the background (by using the longest focal length they could dig out of their photo shelf) with making a good portrait. Actually people tend to look flat, like having a pancake face, the longer the distance is. My thoughts are: the person you are taking a picture of should have about the distance to the camera that it would have when you looked at this person with your own eyes. Not that nose to nose situation and not too far away either. Just the distance that is conventional when talking to people. Because only then you have the right amount of depth in the persons face. The nose doesn't stick out like Pinocchio because you're too close, but the face is not flat either, because you're too far away. A person will have the most natural proportions if the photographer has a "normal" distance to his subject. That includes backing off a bit for a full body picture because people don't tend to look at other people at a talking distance when they want to get an overview over the whole person, for instance when being asked by a person if an outfit looks good on him or her. Just my thoughts. Of course it all comes down to personal preference. I just think that this "I shoot my portraits only at the 200mm end" dogma is based on the wrong preferences, because it's not mainly about the background but about the subject. There are wider lenses, like the 50/1.2 or 85/1.4, that produce tons of background blur but deliver a much more natural look. Also they place the subject in a context by giving some vague informations about the surroundings of the person rather then bluring everything until it is only a plain one-coloured background.

Very helpful! Thank you so much!

thank you, this video was SUPER HELPFUL! thank you for taking time out for teaching us.

This really helped me as a beginner. Thank you Mike, and your lovely assistant Nat!

I love this video so much , you can't imagine How that help me in my test

Trash bin. The best place to leave an expensive lens.

The quality of this video is astonishing. (And this was in 2012) The content is excellent. I love that you ended the video with an immediate call to action to go out and try it right away. I'm subbing!

The execution of the video makes it a little difficult to follow along, but about the last three minutes or so are very helpful and explain final length very clearly. Thank you!

Interesting video, you did not talk much about aperture of sensor size but it's a good video for a beginner. A 50mm f1.8 is pretty cheap and can do a very good job on a aps-c sensor to get a nice bokeh.

Smart, clever and very useful. Great stuff :-) Subscribed

Hi Mike, This was a fantastic tutorial. Very informative, straight to the point and very light hearted. You have a real knack for explaining things concisely in a way that anyone can understand. Definitely subscribed!

Thanks Mike. I've seen a few of your videos and they are very useful.

Great informative video Mike. Really helpful thanks :-)

Mike, I love all your clips and photography... great service you do to put up hints & tips .. thanks a bunch

One of the most practical and useful videos ever. If you don't learn something from this, well, I actually think it's because you don't want to learn what Mike is teaching. Look, you don't have to use this information, but it's the best demonstration of perspective I've seen.

So glad I discovered your channel! Your videos are so helpful to me! Thank you!

Great video. Really gets you to think about it differently. Think about what look you want and then that dictates where you stand for any given focal length. Rather than the more amateur-ish stand in a spot and zoom until you get what you want in the frame. Brilliantly explained. Pretty model too :)

this is great! never knew and thanks for the great explanation.

This is best video i ever seen. No other video explaining about how focal length affects perspective. Excellent video. Excellent explanation.

Amazing video. Focal lengths got me all worked up but now I understand it better than ever.

Excellent piece of advice

I always come back to the source Mike! The most useful video about focal lenghts I've seen on youtube! (Y)

Thanks ... street with different color buildings was a great reference idea. I'm going to try this paying more attention to what is happening in the background.

Mike is great! These days of instruction were pure and friendly and surly what set him apart.

At 1:15 when she walked into the full shot I almost lost it lmao. I thought this video must be from 2011-2013, cause let me tell you. I had an ex that wore that same outfit out one night sophomore year of college 😂

This was really useful!! Thank you so much!!

Mr. Mike I want to thank for sharing the knowledge of yours in a such nice way...

This was really helpful. Thanks for sharing!

even dad can understand the direction that way. thanks

thank you very much! this was perfectly explained thanks!!

Thanks so much for this! Now I understand! I only had to watch about 300 other videos before I came to yours! Subscribed!

Thank you for this. I was struggling to understand this concept but you presented it in a really clear, simple and straightforward way. I've just gone out and shot a bunch of pics at different lengths and now I totally get the concept. Thank you!

- Oh I'm a Nat photographer - National geographic!!!? Wow! - No, the model's name is Natasha, we call her Nat for short. - Oh!

your a wonderful teacher

Best video I've seen on this. None of the other photographers I've watched have been able to explain it so well. Thanks.

I watched this in my PJs at home... and to think I wanted to take an actual class on this. I'm subscribing to your channel for sure. Better than spending hundreds of dollars on course classes and then having to be graded on them. Thank you!

This video actually confirmed me getting a 50mm. 5:18 here's my personal bookmark.

thanks mike, finally my wife will allow me to do portraits for her since she's looking better after i took this lesson, finally XDDD

You're amazing Mike Browne!!! You explain and teach so well. I am finally getting it. Thank you.

8 years later, watching this again 😃 A good video is timeless.

Great video...

A teen from 2019 is waving.

Thank you Mr. Browne. This was a helpful video for me!

Mate, that was just the video I was looking for. Thankyou. Very concise. Thumbed up and subbed.

I really appreciate this video. I have a Nikon D90 with a 55-200mm and u was wondering about the portrait type of shots. you have explained what I should do. I will do the exercise

Sucribed. Only to see Nathasha again...

Awesome teacher. Love your videos. Keep up the good work.

Suddenly this concept is beginning to make sense based upon your examples. Well done.

Well, I guess the shot at 10 mm was flattering in a different way...

Servus mir gefällt das echt gut was du da machst. Mach genau so weiter! I like :) Daniel

I just had to leave a comment , thank you Mike for the brilliant explanation , you are doing a superb job !! keep rockin man, i love your channel

Excellent video, thanks for the demonstration. It really teaches.

"compression" is only caused by distance to the subject. It's not the focal length or zoom. It's just a property of perspective and geometry.

Thank you for the very informative video, I would do this exercise with Natasha with pleasure honestly

Excellent explanation in very clear and plain English. Thanks Mike

The best demonstration I've seen on this topic. Thanks Mike (and Natasha).

what bout the aperture? once my zoom lens increased the focal length the max f. will become more(smaller aperture) so how to get the bokeh effect with a higher f.?

love the neighbor watching

Great video Mike, I use canon so a slight difference in lenses, however, the main concept is still the same. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing more :)

I really appreciate all your hard work in KZfaq, thank you mike!

The perspective element of this is driven solely by the distance between the camera and the subject. You'd get precisely the same perspective by using the same focal length at all the distances and cropping the resultant picture to the same framing. Of course the big downside of this is that you will very rapidly get reduced resolution. So the lesson here is that what controls perspective is just that distance to the subject. The reason different focal lengths are used is simply to maximise the amount of sensor being used for your preferred FoV. If you want your main subject to look large compared to the surroundings, move close to it (or them). That way you get apparently enormous people and small mountains. However, if you want tiny people and large mountains, then move further away from the people. So think perspective first, and focal length second. The focal length is just an enabler to fill the sensor. It is not responsible for the perspective.

Right this minute? But, It's 11PM . :(

Very nice and informative! Can say you're one of the few people I'm actually sure I'll subscribe to and watch for new video releases!

Thank you! I have been wracking my brain trying to understand Focal Length and in 1 video demonstration, you explained something that 20 different articles couldn't put into words for me to comprehend!

Thanks alot! Such Great insight! This really cleared things up for me. My Friend and I are going to start a web series. So this was invaluable. Also, I have one totally unrelated question: What's the lavalier mic that you're using? I found it very clean and with little noise. What would you recommend as a lav mic? You see, I've always been using shotgun mics, and I never found the use of lavs. Thanks alot Friend!! (^^u)/

1:09 😍😍😍

Mike, Great video, really demonstrated how the scene changes as you change focal length. I'm going to try this out and then do one were I change the F Stops too, to see how that changes the photograph. Tks

Amazing... Super concept explained in a beautiful way.