Wide angle is the topic for week 9 of the dog photographer's blog circle. I know I've said this before and I'll say it again. Photography is hard. When I bought my first camera in 2014, I knew nothing about photography and I was so naive, I didn't even know there was much to learn. In December 2015 I decided to get serious and try to figure it out. I'm so grateful I did.

I am a slow learner. Learning doesn't come easily to me. Learning about something complicated like photography is a really slow process for me. I need to read about it and then I need to practice it (a lot) and then maybe it'll start to sink in. I remember reading my first book on exposure and trying to figure out how it all worked together. I could read the words and understand them but applying what I'd read was a challenge for me. At times it still is.

However, I'm at the point now where I feel like I know enough to be dangerous. I understand how to use my camera in manual mode. I know how to take a sharp photo (most of the time.)

When I saw the topic for this week, I thought let me really dive into this and try to learn something new. I know what a wide angle lens is, I have a couple of them but "what is wide angle really?"

I had to google the actual definition to find out. According to the Digital Photo Mentor website, a wide angle lens is any lens that has a wider field of view than what the human eye sees. That means anything wider than a 50mm on a full frame camera is considered wide angle. 

Needless to say, I just learned something new. I knew that wide angle meant that the perspective of the image is wide but I didn't know the technical definition. I'm sure I've read the definition at least a few times in the past but it has never sunk in. That's why I love this weekly project and why I like to participate. Perhaps this is a more accurate statement: Because of the 52 week dog photography project, I re-learn stuff I've read previously and should know but it hasn't sunk in. Stuff I should know but because my brain has been on overload for over two years now, these little things slip through the cracks in my brain. (and there are lots of cracks!)

So here's another reason why I love being in this group. When I don't get out and take photos for the week, I'll sift through some of my previously taken photos. In Lightroom, I sorted by the focal length and found this little gem. It's not a perfect photo but it's of my girl Willow, the one we lost unexpectedly in December. Finding this and editing it for this week made me happy. 

I do love a nice wide angle shot. I love using my wide angle lenses on the beach or in the mountains when I have big open skies. Since that's not how I'd describe where I live (remember all those blasted trees!?!), I don't use my wide angle lenses very often. I didn't get out with my camera this week specifically for this blog post. I was out with it working on another project and I didn't use my wide angle lenses at all. I will make it a priority to use them more. I do like urban wide angle shots... I'll have to incorporate them more in my sessions and I have a couple coming up this weekend.

This is a blog circle. To see what each photographer writes about wide angle, click here because Linda with VPShoots Photography serving the Tampa Bay area is up next. Click the link at the bottom of each post and you'll end up here once you've gone around the circle. Have a great week!