A thirty-five millimeter walk through a small town
Keep a fixed focal length and change distance to include useful surroundings.
Read the notebookA CONSIDERED APPROACH TO SEEING
See more. Carry less.
An unhurried guide to lenses, working distance, beautiful backgrounds, and the small things that make a picture feel personal.
Find your point of viewOne lens. A little curiosity.
Evaluate a vintage lens on a modern body 
A CLOSER LOOKIS ALWAYS WORTH IT.
SIX WAYS TO LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER
Follow your curiosity.
A little understanding goes further than another lens in the bag.
THE LENS NOTEBOOK
60 GUIDES / PRACTICAL BY DESIGNA different way of looking.
Use an eighty-five millimeter lens in a narrow room
Check working distance before committing to a tight portrait lens.
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Find a natural viewpoint with a normal prime
Move until the subject and surrounding shapes have the intended relationship.
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Make a distant subject larger with a telephoto
Increase focal length while maintaining a clear line of sight.
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Use an ultrawide lens without stretching a face
Keep faces away from extreme corners and avoid shooting too close.
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Tell a room's story with a moderate wide lens
Keep enough foreground to establish position without exaggerating near objects.
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Choose a zoom range for a single-lens day
List likely working distances before choosing the lens with useful coverage.
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Use a long lens to isolate architectural rhythm
Change position until repeating elements align cleanly behind the subject.
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Photograph a small object with a standard lens
Find the minimum focusing distance before choosing a tighter crop.
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Recognize when a wider lens changes the story
Decide which additional context earns its place before switching lenses.
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Keep facial proportions calm in a close portrait
Increase camera distance before making the framing tight with a longer lens.
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Choose a lens for a seated environmental portrait
Use a focal length that includes the room without crowding the sitter.
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Use a telephoto for an unhurried outdoor portrait
Agree on simple directions before increasing the working distance.
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Make a wide portrait with a small subject
Place the person where surrounding lines support rather than distort them.
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Balance a foreground hand and the face
Change distance to reduce exaggerated size differences between near and far features.
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Photograph two people at different distances
Stop down or reposition until both faces fit the useful focus range.
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Use a short telephoto for a candid conversation
Work far enough away to allow interaction without filling the frame with clutter.
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Choose a low camera position for a full-length portrait
Raise the camera slightly if near feet become disproportionately large.
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Use a close-focus lens for a meaningful portrait detail
Photograph a personal object at a useful scale without forcing excessive magnification.
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Keep a portrait session moving with one prime
Prepare three shooting distances instead of changing lenses between every setup.
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Make background blur stronger without a faster lens
Increase subject-to-background distance before changing the aperture.
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Choose a background that still reads when blurred
Look for broad color and shape relationships rather than tiny details.
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Keep bright bokeh circles from dominating a face
Move until the brightest background highlights sit away from the subject's outline.
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Use foreground blur as a soft frame
Place a nearby element outside the focus plane without covering important features.
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Control cat-eye highlights near the frame edge
Compare apertures and highlight placement to choose the preferred bokeh shape.
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Build a layered portrait at a modest aperture
Use separated foreground, subject, and background distances to establish depth.
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Keep a recognizable landmark behind a portrait
Stop down until the landmark reads without competing with the face.
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Reduce nervous blur behind fine branches
Change viewpoint so thin high-contrast lines no longer crowd the subject.
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Use color blocks instead of chasing maximum blur
Find simple patches of color that remain calm even at a smaller aperture.
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Make a nighttime bokeh study with a manual lens
Vary focus distance while keeping the light arrangement consistent.
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Photograph a leaf vein at minimum focus
Align the sensor with the leaf surface before opening the aperture.
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Use an extension tube on a compatible prime
Confirm electronic communication and working distance before approaching the subject.
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Keep an insect's eye within the focus plane
Position the camera around the eye rather than the insect's body outline.
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Light a tiny object with a large window
Move the object relative to the window to change reflection shape.
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Control a distracting stem in a flower close-up
Move the camera before removing or disturbing anything in the scene.
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Use a focusing rail for a static detail
Move in small increments while maintaining the selected lens focus setting.
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Avoid breathing onto a cold close-up subject
Allow the lens and subject to settle before composing very near the surface.
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Choose a magnification that explains the object
Reduce magnification when a wider detail communicates the subject more clearly.
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Make a close-up with a compact camera
Use the camera's supported close-focus range and avoid blocking the light.
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Keep a tiny product's edges clean
Control reflected background color with neutral cards near the object.
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Recognize longitudinal color fringes
Inspect colored fringes in front of and behind the focus plane separately.
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Use lens flare as a controlled compositional element
Change the light angle slightly until the flare supports the subject.
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Find a lens's useful corner performance
Photograph a flat detailed scene with careful alignment and repeated focus checks.
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Read focus breathing in a close sequence
Notice framing changes while moving focus through a static arrangement.
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Choose whether natural vignetting helps
Judge corner darkness in the composition before applying a profile correction.
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Create a sunstar with an appropriate aperture
Stop down and partially hide the bright source behind a solid edge.
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Avoid mistaking haze for poor lens contrast
Compare a sheltered high-contrast subject with a distant hazy one.
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Evaluate a vintage lens on a modern body
Test infinity focus, adapter fit, and exposure behavior before a full session.
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Keep reflections from looking like lens defects
Change the filter and light angle independently before diagnosing ghost images.
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Learn a lens's rendering through one familiar subject
Photograph the same subject across distances and apertures with a consistent edit.
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Plan a two-prime kit with useful differences
Choose focal lengths that produce distinct working distances rather than tiny overlaps.
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Test a rented lens before a real assignment
Check autofocus behavior, weight, and handling in conditions similar to the job.
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Use a lens hood without blocking the frame
Confirm the hood is seated correctly and check corners at the widest setting.
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Pack a long lens for a crowded journey
Support the lens and protect the mount from twisting loads in the bag.
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Choose a filter size for a small lens kit
Verify thread sizes and test step-up rings for wide-angle obstruction.
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Make a useful lens comparison contact sheet
Match camera position when comparing framing and match subject size for distance studies.
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Decide when a lightweight lens wins
Compare carrying comfort and actual shooting opportunities over a full walk.
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Practice manual focusing with a moving subject
Pre-focus at a predictable distance and release as the subject enters the plane.
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Keep a lens change from breaking a portrait's rhythm
Prepare the replacement lens and explain the pause before changing equipment.
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Audit a year of focal-length choices
Group selected photographs by focal length and intended visual role.
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