No telephoto lens makes for better photos.

There are three types of artistic photos, in my opinion. First, there is what I call the Passive Landscape. These are images in which the photographer is detached from the subject such as scenery or cityscapes. Next you have the Passive Bystander. Here, the photographer is part of the action, but still detached so that the subjects are not engaged with him / her. Examples would be sporting events, group shots from a distance, or even animals. The last category is the Active Participant. The distinguishing feature here is that the subject is engaged with you. They know you are taking the photo, so your action of taking the picture has an effect them. It is that interaction between photographer and subject which makes these images so captivating.

It is this last category where telephoto can have a negative effect. The telephoto allows you to take a pictures at a distance, but it is primarily used for the second category, Passive bystander. But many people use it when an Active Participant. The telephoto puts you further from the subject, making you less engaged with less effect of the scene. The interaction between photographer and subject is lost. I think this hurts the image.

Well, I finally got my hands on the Fuji X100 (see earlier post here), and while the reviews show it to be nothing less than a little miracle, I think the best feature is its fixed wide angle lens.  There is no telephoto. You are forced to get close to your subject. You are forced to frame every shot by moving your body, not by turning the lens. And given that it is small camera and not a large SLR, you are even more exposed to your subject, unable to hide behind the large camera and lens. This is the way I started photography. This is the way the great street photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson shot. There is no crutch. You have to be in close. This camera will automatically make you a better photographer. If you have a chance to get one, I highly recommend it.

Here are a few shots from Central Park. As the blog goes forward, and I take more shots with the X100 and we’ll see if my theory is true.

Related articles

• Telephoto Lens for the iPhone (schlackman.net)
• 5 Lessons for Photographers from Memoirs of a Geisha (digital-photography-school.com)
• Outdoor Portrait (mattgeorge.me)