34 Nebraskaland • May 2021
ave you ever taken a picture of a bird or other animal,
only to have it show up as a mere pinprick on the
resulting photo? Why do some photos have large
portions that look blurry and only a few bits that are
in focus? Simply put, your camera doesn't see the world the
way you do.
The lenses on your camera are constructed very diff erently
than the lenses in your eyes (though the basics of their
function are surprisingly similar). More importantly, when
you look around, your eyes and brain are constantly working
together to interpret what you're seeing. Your camera isn't
integrated with your brain, which creates a lot of discrepancy
between the images captured by your camera and what
appears to be the reality in front of you. In that context, your
camera is giving you the truth; it's just not the truth you
want to see.
While the disparities between your camera's view of the
world and your own can be frustrating, they also provide
great opportunities if you know how to take advantage of
them. Once you stop expecting photographs to document a
scene exactly as you experience it, you can concentrate on
simply making great images. That requires you to understand
the primary diff erences between you and your camera and
learn how to compensate for them.
This three-part series will explore how your camera thinks
and works and help you become a better photographer,
whether you use your phone, a digital SLR camera or an old
large-format camera with glass plates. Part one deals with
fi eld of view, focus and basic exposure. Part two dives into
depth of fi eld and the trade-off s between shutter speed and
aperture. Part three is all about light.
Focal Length
The focal length of a lens determines the size of an object
and how much of its surroundings you can capture within an
image. Shorter focal lengths make things look small and far
away but include a broad fi eld of view, which is why lenses
with short focal lengths are often called "wide-angle lenses."
If you've ever tried to photograph a small room and were
frustrated with how little of that room you could capture at
Your Camera
Doesn't See
Like You Do
Part 1 of 3
Story and photos by Chris Helzer
H
