I want to talk about lens selection when it comes to taking photographs. Obviously this pertains to using a DSLR and not your camera phone although most camera phones come with software that mimic the look of a digital single lens reflex camera.
Most people who shoot DSLR use the 70-200mm lens that comes with the package. That is a good choice for most sports photography since most parents are restricted to the bleachers and that is the only way they can get half decent close ups. The problem with those kinds of lenses is that the pictures you get often look flat. That is because you are condensing all the foreground and all the background into one shot and that's a lot to pack in. Here is an example.
In this picture all the cheerleaders are on an even plane even though in real life they are staggered from front to back. (or side to side) The long lens condenses them into a flat plane that makes the picture look flat as well.
If you were to use a 24mm wide angle lens and get as close as you can the picture (although a 2D image is still flat) will look less flat and give the illusion of the dimension of distance. Here is an example of a 24mm lens close up.
I was probably 2 feet from Domenic's face when I shot this picture, surprised he didn't punch me, but as you can see there looks to be some distance between him and #4 Seth who is standing behind him to our left. It is an illusion but you can tell there is a space between them.
In the next example the football players also look compressed like there is no space between them. This was shot with the telephoto lens F4 (which accounts for the short depth of field)
In this last example again I used the 24mm wide angle as close as I dare get to get the shot of the coach's huddle.
You can see the coaches and players have some distance between them and don't look smooshed flat like you would get with a telephoto lens.
So lens choice is important if you want to convey a certain kind of look. I prefer the wide angle lens for many shots and if you see me out covering games you will notice I alter between two camera bodies, one with a 70-200mm telephoto and the other with a 24mm wide angle. I do this most at volleyball and basketball games where I need a variety of shots.
If this article goes over well I will consider starting up writing more photography articles in the future. Let me know what you think.
Keith