While 70mm isn’t the favorite focal length of most landscape photographers, James Popsys and Nigel Danson decided to see what they can do with it. In fact, they made it an interesting challenge: they got together at the same location and shot all their photos limiting themselves only to this focal length. Let’s see what they came up with.
The rules for this challenge were pretty simple: both photographers were allowed to use only 70mm while shooting at the same location. They both brought their 7o-200mm lenses, so they used it at the lowest focal length. Also, there was no cropping allowed. After all, that wouldn’t be 70mm-equivalent anymore, right? Both James and Nigel shot videos of their approach to the challenge, sharing both their thoughts and photos. I enjoyed seeing how two photographers in the same genre take such different approaches. They chose some same subjects, but some of their points of interest weren’t the same at all. For example, James likes including people in some of his photos, while Nigel avoids it. Also, they chose some different techniques and approaches. The thing with a challenge like this is that you’re extremely limited. While this doesn’t sound like a good thing, it actually is. When you give yourself some limitations, you’re forced to look at the scene differently than you normally would. This trains your creativity and ultimately improves your photography. In both Nigel’s and James’s videos, you can see the photos they ended up with. I slightly prefer Nigel’s I must admit, especially the ones he made with intentional camera movement. But of course, James took some great shots as well, especially near the end of the day. Whose photos do you prefer? And have you ever given yourself a challenge like this? [via Imaging Resource]
