Lens Compression by Shelley Paulson Photography

I created “Learn with Kirstie Marie Photography” as an extension of my brand in 2015, with the intention that I would share things as I learned them. I chose the name carefully. It wasn’t “Learn FROM”; it was “Learn WITH”. I never saw myself as a teacher in front of a classroom, or some expert with any authority. I saw myself as more of a (lost) tour guide side-by-side next to you in the wilderness. We were navigating together and we were learning together.

My previous post on Lens Distortion needed both correction and added clarity.  My good friend Shelley Paulson was gracious enough to gently correct me and enlighten me. For that, I asked if she could provide a guest post here to teach what I learned:

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When my friend Kirstie and I were chatting about her recent post on Lens Distortion and equine photography, I had to give her the bad news, “I don’t think it has to do with what you think it has to do with…” 😉

While the points she made in her blog post were valid, they weren’t the full reason that horses look so bad when photographed at shorter focal lengths. Kirstie asked me to share the real reason with you: lens compression.

Wide Angle Distortion

Wide-angle lenses (any lens shorter than 50mm) will cause near objects to appear large and far objects to appear small. This is why they are such popular lenses for landscape photography. You can take in a whole landscape with just one photo!

The problem with wide-angle lenses and horses is this perspective causes the horse’s head to appear abnormally large. Cell phone cameras have wide-angle lenses, which is why in selfies with your horse, they always have a big bobblehead!

Left: Me with my horse Fritzie – shot on iPhone. Right: 17-40 at 17mm.

Telephoto for Proper Perspective

To put horses in their proper perspective, it’s best to use a telephoto lens. I consider anything longer than 85mm safe for equine photography. Telephoto lenses compress the foreground and background of your image, making near objects appear smaller and far objects appear larger, which is flattering to horses because it keeps their head in perspective with their bodies, especially when they are facing you.

Left: 110mm on a 70-200 zoom. Right: 80mm on a 70-200 zoom.

Left: 165mm on a 70-200 zoom. Right: 135mm prime lens.

Too Much Compression

You can actually go TOO far with horses and telephoto lens compression. At extreme focal lengths, the front to back perspective of the horse can become so compressed that it makes the horse seems very, shall we say, stout? The horse in this photo below is NOT pregnant, just very compressed. 

500mm on a 150-600 zoom.

Exceptions to the Rule

As with anything related to making art, there are exceptions to the rule! 

If I want to experiment with a wider lens for equestrian portraits, I make sure the horse is in parallel to me, so the distortion is not a major issue in the photo. 

Both: 50mm prime lens.

Wide Angle for Action

For action, wide-angle lenses can be a lot of fun and add variety to your coverage of an event!

Both: 17-40 at 17mm.

Conclusion

The moral of this story is, pick the right focal length for each individual equine photography situation you find yourself in. Here’s a cheat sheet to help you decide:

• Equestrian Portraits – Horse Facing You – 85mm to 300mm
• Equestrian Portraits – Horse in Parallel – 50mm or longer (conformation side shots should be 85mm or longer)
• Equine Sports or Action – any length you want! 

For more on this subject, watch this helpful article and video on Lens Compression from SLR Lounge: https://www.slrlounge.com/lens-compression/

I hope this gives you a new “perspective” on focal lengths and some helpful guidelines for choosing the right one for your next photoshoot!

Shelley

To learn more about Shelley Paulson and see more of her work, visit www.shelleypaulson.com

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Shelley’s educational opportunities for photographers: www.shelleypaulson.com/for-photographers

Shelley’s equine stock photo library at http://shelleypaulsonstock.com/