Ernst Haas is one of my all time favorite photographers, and I’m lucky enough to have one of his images on my wall. One of his quotes has stuck with me for a whole lot of years. He once said, “The best zoom lens is your feet”.
I have used that quote (always crediting him with saying it) for years, both in my online class with the BPSOP and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct all over this planet.
If I had a nickel for everytime I walked up to someone who was shooting multiple photos merely buy zooming in and out with the same subject in the viewfinder, I would be writing this post from a chaise lounge by some pool with a blue and frothy drink; an umbrella hanging over one side of the tall glass.
It makes me think of a post I wrote crediting another artist with his quote…Bob Marley. It doesn’t say the exact same thing, but the idea fits this post; he said, “Some people feel the rain while others just get wet.”
The reason why it applies to Ernst Haas’s quote is because when you just stand there zooming in and out, you’re just getting wet. In order to feel the rain you should use your feet and not your lens when shooting.
Use your feet to move aound your subject, whether it be to change the way the light affects it or to merely change your POV. If you want less information around your subject then move closer. Converesly, if you want to include more of the environment back away.
Of course this is all predicated on the assumption that you only brought one lens with you. If you’re like me, you have several options (lens) to choose from.
In the above photo taken during my Maine Media Workshop I first shot this pedestrian bridge by walking up to this position and shooting what you see now. If I han’t I might not have gotten everything sharp from fron to back; and the feeling of compression. So many people make the mistake of just zooming in on something like this without thinking of any possible side effects.
I love zoom lens, having three of them myself. When necessay they’re great to have aound. When I say ‘necessaryy’ I’m talking about times when using your feet are impossible. For example if there’s a fence in front of me which by the way I might just scale depending if the shot would possibly be worth it verses the amount of probable stiches; remember that begging for forgiveness could be a lot better than asking permission. What about a giant pool of quicksand, a den of rattlesnakes (I hate snakes), or a starving school of Piranha??
That would do it for me!!
I think you get the point. For me, It would take things like the before mentioned problems for me not to walk to find another POV; besides, I need the extra steps!!!
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my 2018 worksho schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
In conjunction with The Santa Fe Workshops, on October 2nd I’ll be leading a group in San Miguel de Allende. A beautiful oasis and artist colony, and the entire city is a UNESCO site.
Come join me for a week of fun and photography…what could be better?
JoeB
