The best trait of a wide-angle lens, in this case the Nikon 14-24mm f2.8, isn’t how wide a view the lens takes in. There are times when necessity requires a wider view such as when your back is literally against the wall or your subject is very close. Sometimes the wide-angle works to include more of a horizontal landscape.
Where it works best is layering, creating three-dimensional photos that better explain the scene. The photo at left is a very good example of using a wide angle to layer the composition.
These women displaying tour signs are waiting for Buckeye fans arrival at the airport for their annual trip to a post-season bowl game.
By placing one woman in the near foreground and composing so the other two women and the background are in different planes of view, the effect is a set of layered, compositional subjects that contribute to the understanding of the primary subject in the foreground.
Play a game of connect the dots using heads as line points. Move from foreground to background along an S-curve line creating visual movement through the image. Each stop along the dotted path is a different subject, each contributing to the story.
The additional depth adds interest and story detail beyond a photo of a woman holding a sign. Careful inspection shows several individual photos within this image.
1) Crop to woman at right holding the sign.
2) Crop to woman at right holding the sign with the woman immediately behind her holding another sign.
3) Crop out woman at right so woman at left is primary subject.
4) Step to left and use telephoto to compress two women at center frame into a vertical image.
5) Woman at left shot with telephoto to include ticket counter and ropes as rear subject.
All these would be fairly effective images. None would have been as effective as the repeating pattern of women holding signs leading into the distance.
Here’s a second frame using the same technique after the Buckeye fans arrived on their bus. There are only two compositional elements in this frame yet the effective use of a wide angle as a method for layering subjects remains.
