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So, by changing to a telephoto lens, whilst keeping the main subject in the frame the same size, we start to change the background composition significantly, and in doing so, the information we are providing and the story we are telling. And of course, if you use a telephoto lens and shift to a wide angle, the exact opposite happens.

Here’s where they really come into their own. In the image below where I am using a 16mm lens, you can see Gravel, my old Teddy bear, is filling the central part of the frame, sitting patiently to be photographed in my open plan living area, guitars on the left, fridge on the right.

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However, fisheye converters have serious downsides. They generally produce very poor image quality, with blurred focusing and severe vignetting (darking around the edges). They also suffer from lens flare, don't accept filters, and can prevent the lens from zooming.

A wide angle lens allows you to fit more into the frame, making them perfect for capturing scenes such as expansive landscapes or cramped interiors.

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But if I move away, increasing the focal length whilst keeping Gravel the same size in frame, what you’ll notice happening is three things. Firstly, the field of view decreases, so we see less of Gravel’s environment. In this case, as we move past 50mm we now don’t really know where he is.

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All fisheye converters have a magnification factor which determines the effective focal length you will get. For example, if you have a 35mm wide angle lens, a 0.42x fisheye adapter will take this down to around 15mm (35 x 0.42 = 15). This would produce a roughly full-frame image on a 35mm sensor.

A fisheye lens is designed for shooting very wide angles, usually 180 degrees. They are popular in landscape, extreme sport, and artistic photography.

Fisheye lenses produce noticeable barrel distortion, but this can be used to great artistic effect. Image by Tom Harnish.

This generally isn't a problem, because most photographers use fisheye lenses precisely because of the interesting, unnatural distortions they produce, and so this is part of their appeal.

Depending upon your lens, shifting from a ‘wide’ to a telephoto can also reduce distorting perspective. In my experience, using anything over 50mm I’ve found there isn’t typically any noticeable distortion, but as you move under 50mm, the wider the lens, the more noticeable the distorting perspective.

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Because they capture such an extreme angle, fisheye lenses have a very large apparent depth of field. This means that your shots will appear sharply focused from front to back. This makes them ideal for capturing scenes with interesting subjects in the foreground and background.

All else being equal, lenses over 300mm are normally larger, heavier and much more expensive than shorter focal length lenses, with some priced north of $15,000.

These more extreme fisheye lenses tend to be used for artistic purposes such as skateboard photography or for shooting unusual landscapes and cityscapes.

In normal wide angle lenses, this can be corrected to produce a "rectilinear" image, where the perspective in the scene looks normal, and straight lines are straight. However, a fisheye lens produce an angle of view which is too extreme for this type of correction.

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So, a 70mm-200mm lens for example (full frame equiv.) would be considered both a zoom lens and could also be called a telephoto lens, whereas a 16-35mm would be called a zoom (or wide-angle zoom), but is definitely not a telephoto.

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Fisheye adapters are great fun if you simply want to experiment with fisheye photography, but they should not be seen as a realistic alternative to a proper fisheye lens.

Because of this, many manufacturers produce fisheye lenses designed specifically for cameras with smaller sensors. These have even shorter focal lengths, sometimes as low as 1mm, so that they produce a full 180 degree photo.

For cameras with a 35mm sensor or film, a typical circular fisheye lens might have a focal length of 8mm to 10mm. Full-frame lenses have slightly longer focal lengths, usually 15mm to 16mm.

As well as being used for practical purposes, many artists have adopted them due to the unusual, distorted images they produce. They use them to take intriguing photographs of all types of subjects, from still life to portraits.

A "true" fisheye lens is considered to be one that can capture 180 degrees at the widest point. However, some manufacturers sell lenses which go even further, up to 220 degrees. These lenses tend to be very big, heavy, and expensive, and so are generally only used for specialist, technical work.

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Secondly, some parts of Gravel’s environment that we couldn’t be seen before, are now revealed. We start to see another (and much older) teddy bear named Griz, sitting behind him. And finally, the background that we could and couldn’t see, appears closer than it really is. This characteristic is known as compression, and that happens whenever we use telephoto lenses.

A cheap alternative to a proper fisheye lens is a fisheye conversion lens, often simply called a fisheye converter. These accessory lenses attach to your existing lens via the filter thread, and give you a wider viewing angle.

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On the other hand, this extreme depth of field makes it almost impossible to isolate your subject by throwing the background out of focus. This is something you need to be aware of when framing your shot, so that you can choose an uncluttered background.

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A fisheye lens, also known as an "ultra wide" or "super wide" lens, is a type of wide angle lens which can capture an extremely wide image, typically around 180 degrees. The images they produce are highly distorted, giving them a dynamic, abstract feel.

But I find that the real creative advantage of using a telephoto lens is they allow you to compose the background differently, by reducing the field of view and adding what is known as compression – more on that in a minute. First, to understand what I'm talking about - where telephotos are used to simply get closer - let’s look at the image below.

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This is a series of photos of Sandringham beach with Red Bluff cliff in the background, shot from the same position but using different focal lengths. The main difference you'll really notice is that as I have increased the focal length, the closer the cliffs appear, and the less of the surrounds you see. But as I mentioned, a lot of the time, to some extent, you can often achieve the same 'closeness' by cropping in.

Although they do not cover such a wide angle, photos taken using a full-frame fisheye lens are rectangular and do not have black edges. This makes them more suitable for practical purposes such as traditional landscape photography and shooting building interiors.

So maybe next time you think about reaching for that telephoto lens, stop and ask yourself “What would happen to my composition and the story I was telling if I just moved a little closer, or stayed where I was, and cropped later in post?” You might find that the stories your pictures tell are very different, and I’d even suggest, often more interesting. ❂

Now, this of course assumes you have the ability to move relative to the main subject, and that’s not always possible. Sometimes you just can’t move. but if you do have the opportunity to change positions, this gives us the opportunity to significantly alter the composition and the story we are telling.

This is due to their complex optical designs, multiple lens elements and coatings, and the high quality of these glass elements, along with the general superior construction and quality that photographers who use these specialised tools demand.

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A circular fisheye lens is one which captures a full 180 degree view in all directions. This results in a circular image, with the edges of the frame being black.

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If you want to capture more than 180 degrees, it is possible to stitch more than one fisheye photo using software such as Photoshop. This allows you to create images which cover as much as 360 degrees, making for some very interesting, abstract compositions.

Fisheye lenses are popular for photographing extremely wide panoramas of landscapes and the sky, and for shooting close-up subjects such as crowds, interiors, and architecture. They are also commonly used to photograph action sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing.

As with all lenses, the focal length is effectively increased for cameras with a sensor smaller than 35mm. To find the equivalent focal length of a lens, you need to multiply its focal length by the camera's "crop factor". For example, a 10mm fisheye lens on a camera with a crop factor of 1.5 will have an effective focal length of 15mm. This will produce a narrower field of view.

And, speaking of telephoto focal lengths, normally a lens that sits between 70mm to 200mm is referred to as ‘medium telephoto’, whereas those over 300mm are called ’super telephotos’.

Many people use the term ‘zoom’ and ‘telephoto’ interchangeably, but they are very different creatures. A zoom refers to a lenses ability to change, or slide through, different focal lengths, regardless of what focal lengths they are. A telephoto however, normally refers to any lens, with a focal length greater than about 70mm.

And yes, while a telephoto lens will help you do this, for me that’s often not the reason I use one. With today’s high megapixel cameras, depending upon the end resolution you need, you can often “…get closer…” or “…fill more of the frame…” simply by cropping in post-production, or putting a full frame lens on a cropped sensor camera (which really is a type of cropping, it’s just pre vs postproduction).

All of the major lens manufacturers sell fisheye lenses. Canon and Nikon make the best lenses for their own cameras, while others such as Sigma, Tokina, and Tamron make excellent, cheaper alternatives.

A full-frame fisheye lens only captures a 180 degree field of view along its diagonal. The horizontal and vertical sides of the image are less than 180 degrees (typically around 150 degrees horizontal and 100 degrees vertical).

Fisheye lenses suffer from "barrel distortion", where subjects at the centre of the frame appear to bulge outwards, and straight lines curve wildly. This type of image is known as a "curvilinear" image.

Full-frame fisheye lenses cover 180 degrees along the diagonal only, producing a less wide-angle, rectangular photo without the black borders.