Photography tips

Using a wide angle creatively

View of the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower in Lucerne with Mount Pilatus in the background under a cloudy evening sky.

Key tips

Select an ultra-wide angle lens with a 12 mm focal length to effectively frame the vast sky and cloud formations.
Use an ultra-wide angle of 12 mm to capture a vast landscape, such as Lake Lucerne and the Pilatus massif, in its entirety.
Use a wide angle lens to frame your main subject between foreground elements.

Photographs on this topic

5 photographs with tips

The exact camera settings for each shot are shown below it - a starting point for recreating the look yourself. Click through to a photograph for detailed photography tips on that specific shot, under "Photography tips for this image".

All subjects City Architecture Mountains Landscape Lucerne Pilatus Lake Lucerne Central Switzerland

Panoramic view of the city of Lucerne with Mount Pilatus in the background under a blue sky

12 mm · f/16 · 1/160 s · ISO 200

Wide angle view of Lake Lucerne with the city skyline and Mount Pilatus in the background under a blue sky.

12 mm · f/16 · 1/160 s · ISO 200

View across Lake Lucerne towards the city of Lucerne and Mount Pilatus in the background

29 mm · f/13 · 1/200 s · ISO 200

Splashing water at the retaining wall by the Seeburg in Lucerne during Foehn weather conditions

22 mm · f/7.1 · 1/1600 s · ISO 400

View of nocturnal Lucerne and Mount Pilatus during the blue hour

22 mm · f/16 · 30 s · ISO 400