Varifocal lenses offer the flexibility to adjust focal length, compress space, or expand the field of view, avoiding the hassle of frequently changing lenses when shooting landscapes outdoors. When shooting landscapes with a varifocal lens, mastering some techniques can effectively enhance the sense of depth and atmosphere in landscape photos, significantly improving the expressiveness of the image.
1.Choose the appropriate focal length according to your shooting needs
Varifocal lenses allow you to adjust the shooting range by changing the focal length. First, you need to choose the appropriate focal length based on your subject and compositional needs, and then compose and shoot. Longer focal lengths can emphasize the subject, while shorter focal lengths are suitable for shooting expansive landscapes.
For example, using a wide-angle setting (such as 24mm or shorter) allows you to capture more of the scene, showcasing breadth and a sense of space; using a telephoto setting (such as 100mm or longer) brings distant objects closer, compresses space, and highlights details; a 24-105mm varifocal lens offers flexibility for a variety of shooting scenarios.
2.Master different composition techniques
The core of landscape photography is composition. When shooting with a varifocal lens, you don’t need to move; you can quickly optimize the composition by adjusting the focal length. However, you still need to pay attention to several compositional principles:
①Rule of thirds composition: Regardless of the focal length, you can turn on the camera’s grid lines and place the horizon or subject at one-third of the way across the frame. Place the key element (such as sunrise, a lone tree, or a small boat) at the intersection of the grid lines to avoid the rigidity of a centered composition and enhance the balance of the image.
②Using foreground elements with a wide-angle lens: While a wide angle lens allows you to capture more of the scene, it can easily result in a monotonous image. To avoid this, incorporate foreground elements in the lower third of the frame, such as rocks, flowers, wooden walkways, or silhouettes of people, to guide the viewer’s eye towards the middle and background, exaggerating the sense of spatial depth.
③Using a telephoto lens to simplify compositional elements: When the scene is cluttered with elements, a telephoto lens can be used to select the most striking part, such as a single tree, a small house, or a mountaintop illuminated by a ray of light. This compresses the space, simplifies the composition, and extracts details.
Mastering composition techniques is essential when shooting with a varifocal lens
3.Pay attention to lighting and exposure settings
Landscape photography typically requires both the foreground and background to be in sharp focus, so a small aperture is commonly used to achieve a large depth of field, such as f/8, f/11, or even smaller. It’s important to note that when using a telephoto lens to capture detailed close-ups, using an aperture of f/16 or smaller may result in reduced image quality due to diffraction effects. Therefore, a balance must be struck between depth of field and image quality.
It is recommended to adjust camera parameters such as ISO, shutter speed, and white balance according to lighting conditions to achieve optimal image quality. In bright light, a higher zoom level can be used; in low light, the zoom level should be reduced to avoid image blur and increased noise. Front lighting or side lighting can better present the depth and three-dimensionality of objects. You can try shooting during the golden hours of dawn or dusk, when the light is soft and the colors are rich.
4.Use a tripod to stabilize your shots
A tripod is one of the most important accessories for landscape photography. Using a tripod effectively prevents blur caused by camera shake, especially in low-light conditions or when using telephoto lenses. It also allows you to confidently use low ISO and small apertures without worrying about slow shutter speeds. A tripod is essential, especially during the golden hours (sunrise and sunset) when the light is weak.
Furthermore, using a tripod helps photographers maintain stability during shooting, particularly when shooting time-lapse photography or long exposures.
A tripod is required for stable shooting
5.Use lens hoods appropriately
Varifocal lenses are more prone to producing lens flare than other types of lenses; therefore, a suitable lens hood is essential. Especially when shooting against the light or with side lighting, using a lens hood helps reduce glare and improves image contrast and color.
6.Pay attention to post-processing
Varifocal lenses, especially when used at the wide-angle end, often exhibit barrel distortion and vignetting, which can be corrected in post-processing. Shooting in RAW format allows for adjustments in post-processing, such as sharpening, white balance, and color correction, which can significantly improve image quality.
Varifocal lens shooting requires the proper use of a lens hood
7.Try creative shooting techniques
After mastering the basic techniques of using telephoto lenses, you can also try some creative shooting methods. For example, focus stacking: when shooting with a wide-angle lens and very close to the foreground, even using a small aperture may not allow both the very close foreground and the infinitely distant background to be in focus.
In this case, you can focus on different points at different distances and take multiple photos, then use software to combine them into a single image where both the foreground and background are sharp.
In summary, when shooting landscapes with a varifocal lens, photographers can utilize its flexibility and versatility to capture different landscape scenes. Mastering certain techniques will help in producing professional-quality and artistic landscape photographs.
Post time: Mar-13-2026
