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

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

Photographs on this topic

20 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
Close-up of a flowering magnolia with sunstar 30 mm · f/32 · 1/60 s · ISO 320 A straight wooden jetty leads into the foggy Lake Sempach, framed by reeds. 15 mm · f/5.6 · 1/60 s · ISO 500 A straight wooden jetty leading into the thick fog over Lake Sempach. 15 mm · f/5.6 · 1/60 s · ISO 500 Frost on trees and grass at Lake Sempach in dense fog 28 mm · f/6.3 · 1/80 s · ISO 320 Wooden jetty leading into the foggy Lake Sempach 15 mm · f/5.6 · 1/80 s · ISO 320 A wooden pier leads into the calm water of Lake Sempach during the evening twilight. 15 mm · f/5.6 · 1/80 s · ISO 400 View of a wooden pier at Lake Sempach during twilight 15 mm · f/5.6 · 1/60 s · ISO 320 A straight wooden pier leading into the calm water of Lake Sempach at sunset 15 mm · f/5.6 · 1/80 s · ISO 250 Wooden pier leading into the calm Lake Sempach during the evening 15 mm · f/5.6 · 1/80 s · ISO 400 Reeds on the shore of Lake Sempach at sunset 24 mm · f/5.6 · 1/80 s · ISO 100 Atmospheric sunset over Lake Sempach with a single bird on the water 28 mm · f/16 · 1/160 s · ISO 400 Sun low over the calm Lake Sempach at twilight 20 mm · f/25 · 1/25 s · ISO 100 Wooden pier leading into the calm Lake Sempach at sunset 19 mm · f/16 · 1/80 s · ISO 320 A wooden jetty leads into the calm Lake Sempach under an orange sunset sky. 20 mm · f/5.6 · 1/500 s · ISO 100 A wooden jetty leads into the calm Lake Sempach under a cloudy evening sky. 15 mm · f/5.6 · 1/500 s · ISO 100 Wooden jetty extending into the calm Lake Sempach under an orange evening sky 15 mm · f/5.6 · 1/500 s · ISO 100 A long jetty in the calm Lake Sempach at sunset 26 mm · f/10 · 1/100 s · ISO 100 Rear view of a historic Rigi cogwheel railway carriage on the tracks in Vitznau. 22 mm · f/3.2 · 1/4000 s · ISO 400 The Zytglogge clock tower in Bern with overhead lines in the foreground. 18 mm · f/7.1 · 1/320 s · ISO 100 View from above over the rooftops of Bern old town with the Federal Palace 18 mm · f/7.1 · 1/320 s · ISO 100

Related topics

  • City
  • Architecture
  • Mountains
  • Landscape
  • Composition
  • Camera settings
  • Light
  • Perspective
  • Lucerne
  • Pilatus
  • Lake Lucerne
  • Central Switzerland
  • Evening light
  • Sunset
  • Blue hour
  • Night
  • Snow
  • Rain
  • Fog
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