The good guys are in trouble. The bad guys have a bomb planted, and it is ready to explode. The good guy sees the bomb, grabs the sweet girl's hand and runs. The camera's angle changes. The good guys are running straight to the camera. Another shot shows the tickler on the bomb; there is only two seconds left. The camera is back with the action. You see the good guys running for all they are worth, BUT they are still too close; should the bomb explode they will not survive. Then, kaboom! the bomb explodes. The runners are flung into the air from the shock wave. The imagery is spectacular. It looks like the flames are so close to our heroes they almost touch them.

          How do they shoot those scenes to look so real? How do they get the impact? How do the actors survive being so close to the explosion? The answer is rather simple. We discussed this briefly when we talked about composition (see older blog). Wide angle lenses (small numbers such as 24mm) create space and distance. Telephoto lenses (large numbers such as 400mm) compact things. When you use a telephoto lens it makes objects appear much closer to each other than what they really are. If you were to see the same scene of the actors running with the explosion behind them from the side view, you will see that they are far apart. Shooting them behind each other (bomb right behind the actors) with a telephoto lens magically makes the distance disappear. It looks almost as if they are in the flames.

          Telephoto lenses are not just used to get close to your subject, it also changes the perspective by compacting them. You can use this knowledge to get a variety of shots. Look at this helicopter crash:

It seems as thou the crash is imminent. In reality they are some distance from each other. The long telephoto lens compacts them together so that it appears as if there is no distance between them. The idea is to use the right lens to achieve the effect we want. The choice of lens is not just based on how much field of view you need but whether you want distance or compacting.

          Play with your lenses. Shoot the same field of view twice; once from close bye with a wide angle lens and a second time from a distance using a telephoto. Look at the difference in perspective. Now use that perspective to your advantage in future.