From another persepective… - Carsten Schouler

May 1, 2021 Carsten Schouler

… the world looks different. Last summer Leica made it possible to shoot an Audi RS3 directly in front of the Leica main building. It’s an amazing location for photos like these. But what I’d like to show here is the different effects that a change in perspective caused by different focal lengths can cause.

Very often car portraits are shot with a short (or even a longer) tele lens. I decided to walk down another path. This “neutral” perspective of a “normal lens”, like a 50mm on small format, shows the car as we see it in real life:

Audi RS3 with 50mm Lens

This photo was taken with a 50mm lens.

Using an extreme wide angle lens, such as the Voigtländer Hyper Wide Heliar 5.6/10mm, of course changes this tremendously:

Audis RS3 with 10mm Lens

This photo was taken with the Voigtländer Hyper-Wide-Heliar 5.6/10mm Asph. VM lens.

The additionally intensified vignetting underlines the effect. The car is depicted in a massively distorted way up to a point where we cannot call it “a portrait” anymore. Still, this appeal might enhance a dynamic feel to it. So, why not look for a compromise?

Even with a 24mm or a 28mm lens the image would probably be too far away from a portrait which essentially functions as a way to show what a person or an object really looks like. Thus, I mounted the TTArtisan 1.4/35 to my Leica M and gave it a go:

Audi RS3 with 35mm Lens

Both images taken with the TTartisan 1.4/35mm lens.

We can see a slight distortion of both form and lines but still we easily recognize that car and the additional dynamic suits the subject very well. It enhances the impression of power.

Of course, it’s always in the eye of the beholder, but if that is the main criteria, I might add that the driver like the photos taken with the 35mm lens the most.

So, why not think “out of the box” every now and then? Why not change the perspective once in a while? Even if the results are not to everyone’s liking, it refreshes one’s thoughts and opens new ways in your personal photography. We should dare to try new lenses and focal lengths that are not generic or typically acknowledged for a certain subject. Come on, go for it!

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From another persepective… - Carsten Schouler