Using an Ultra-Wide Angle Lens for Weddings and Portraits

Why should you keep an ultra-wide angle lens in your bag for portrait, engagement, and wedding shoots?

Ultra-wide angle lenses are kind of a double-edged sword. They do very well in showing a wide perspective of a grand scene but come with the consequence of distortion. Most tutorials and lessons you can find anywhere on the internet would tell you to avoid using ultra-wide angle lenses for portraits, events, and generally anything that involves people, and the reason behind this is because you would want to avoid distorting the figure of the subject. 

However, as you learn to take advantage of such perspectives, you would find out that there are ways to use them to your advantage. In this new video from portrait and wedding photographer Jiggie Alejandrino, he discusses the proper ways to use ultra-wide angle lenses in such situations. This video talks about how to avoid the common mistakes in using such lenses such as properly placing the subject, proper frame proportions, and using the distortion for compositional advantage. With the use of some very good examples, Alejandrino illustrates exactly how to turn what could be a warped and distorted portrait into a cover-worthy image that perfectly encapsulates the essence of the portrait or wedding photo. 

Nicco Valenzuela's picture

Nicco Valenzuela is a photographer from Quezon City, Philippines. Nicco shoots skyscrapers and cityscapes professionally as an architectural photographer and Landscape and travel photographs as a hobby.

Log in or register to post comments
2 Comments

Nice idea but ultra wide angle looks too distorted and unnatural for my tastes.

That is why the subject should (generally) be in the center and the camera should be straight (see around minute 3).