"Zooming With Your Feet" Is Dumb

[Dpingr1]

I think zooming with your feet is a bad way to zoom. (Use a zoom to zoom) However, getting closer can be a valuable suggestion, especially for new or inexperienced photographers. When I see a lackluster amateur photo, it seems like five times out of ten the composition is uninteresting because it was taken from too far away. This is especially true of family photography -- your photobug uncle's "ant people" shots of the family in front of a scenic vacation site is a familiar example for many of us. I would never say "zoom with your feet" -- but I do suggest getting to where you want to shoot and taking a few steps forward. Doesn't always work, but I think it's a good practice for people who don't think much about composition but want better pictures, and it instills good habits.

 

[jszokoli]

So I'd but it this way.

Compose with your feet.

Frame with your lens. (zoom or fixed)

Joe

 

[Dpingr1]

So I'd but it this way.

Compose with your feet.

Frame with your lens. (zoom or fixed)

Joe

Hey, Christy Brown wrote and painted with his foot, so, why not?

 

[Rob-F]

It pays to have more than one focal length, whether by using a zoom lens, or several primes. Zooming with your feet is useful, but has limitations, like when there is a wall behind you or a canyon in front of you. So it isn't either/or, but some of both.

 

[Mark C]

So I'd but it this way.

Compose with your feet.

Frame with your lens. (zoom or fixed)

Joe

I think that is a much better and less offensive way of saying it.

 

[Solinar]

So I'd but it this way.

Compose with your feet.

Frame with your lens. (zoom or fixed)

Joe

It's a good skill to have when photographing with an antiquated fixed-lens rangefinder. In fact, I often have to zoom in or out with the help of my bicycle. Photography with a sixty plus year old classic is work.

With regards to Chris Crawford's original examples, he was right on in both cases to move in closer and switch to a shorter focal length to have the house block an unwanted background element. It worked.