Exercise 10 - Focal Lengths and different viewpoints

I used the cathedral again for this exercise as the side entrance was in a quiet area of town where I could walk forward without having to look up from the view finder.


I used my trusty 17-40mm at 17mm, it's widest focal length and then I used my 70-200mm at 111mm purely because I couldn't reverse any further do to there being a building behind me.


The depth of the subject is present in it's flowers and the different stages of stone in the entrance arch. 


Here is the first image taken with the telephoto lens.

and here is the second image taken with the wide angle:

The perspective of the image when taken from a distance produces are very stable, almost flat image. The structure of the floral display appears to be very linear and as architectural as the building behind it. The wooden doors appear to be just behind the stone arch and the image appears to be very rigid in form. The image projects easy admittance to a carefully looked after building and doors that are within easy reach.


The second image is quite startling different despite being of the same scene. I should have maintained the exact same edges of the frame but the lens distortion on the floral displays gave such a dramatic edge to the picture that it seemed a shame to crop them.
Everything about this image is more three dimensional yet also unrealistic. The picture feels dynamic because the wide angle perspective emphasises the diagonal lines in the flag stones and projects a sense of movement towards the door way. It is also clearer to see the distance between the wooden doors and the arch making the entrance seem a bit more foreboding due to the shadowy vestibule that visitors would need to cross to gain entrance having gotten past the almost triffid-like floral displays.