Embracing the Wide Side

When I got my first DSLR camera (about 4 years ago, has it really been that long?!) I was amazed at all the capabilities it had that my point-and-shoot did not. Most especially I loved that I could get so close to my subject. It was heavenly to be able to fill the frame with my beautiful kids' faces, their eyes sparkling back at me in the photographs just as they do in real life.

I found shooting nature and flowers close up to be a awe-inspiring experience, as well. So many details! All the amazing colors and shapes and beauty to be found if you get down close to a simple wildflower or moss growing on a rock.

However, before long I found myself firmly in a photography rut. All of my photos began to look the same and my inspiration was waning. My photographs looked tight and cramped to me and I was feeling a bit cramped myself.

Elizabeth is jumping over the waves in this photo. 

Finally, I learned to mix things up and breathe some new life into my photographs by embracing wide angle focal lengths. For me that meant shooting on the 18mm end of my 18-105mm kit zoon lens or shooting with my 24mm prime lens.

All of these pictures were taken on our recent vacation during a brief visit to Mustang Island State Park using the wide end of my 18-105mm zoom lens.

In these photos there is room for my subjects, be they children or husbands or birds, to move and interact with their environment. It's also easy to see there different sizes of the kids relative to each other.

I particularly love capturing so much of the sky in a photo so you can see the beautiful natural gradation of the blue. Capturing the surroundings as well as the subject in a photo adds so much more interest.

It's a whole new world on the wide side.

I won't stop taking those close ups of my kids' precious faces, though. I just now know to mix them up with a few shots that capture their entire bodies and their surroundings, as well.