If you have a prime lens – use only that, if you don’t – buy one. You can also choose one focal length on your zoom lens and limit yourself to that. Try to shoot on 35mm only for 1 month for example. What you need to aim for, is to get used to this one focal length and then you will see how much you can achieve with it. You will see precisely which shot are you going to get since you will get used to seeing this focal length when thinking about your shots.
Limiting yourself to a single focal length can be a great exercise in creativity and help you learn how to use that particular lens to its full potential. By using only one lens, you’ll be forced to think more about composition, lighting, and how you can use the lens to capture the scene you’re trying to capture. This can lead to a more deliberate approach to photography and can help you develop your own visual style.
My Personal Experience and Benefits Of Shooting with a Single Focal Length
Using only a single focal length can help you pre-visualize your shots and understand the framing and composition possibilities with that specific lens. It can also help you develop a stronger sense of spatial awareness, which can be especially useful in documentary and street photography where you need to react quickly to changing scenes and subjects.
In my case, I have been using the classic 50mm a lot and now switched to 45mm. Since they are almost the same I can still previsualize my shots and sometimes I don’t even look in the viewfinder before taking a picture. If I need to get lower I put my camera next to my waist and then I can visualise the picture I want to get in my head. That scruffy approach makes my compositions a bit worse(though I can cut the imperfections out) but allows me to capture everything at least 2 times faster.
One more advantage of using a specific focal length comes in the planning stage of a photograph. When you want to compose something, you can already previsualize how your subject will appear. With a zoom lens, you have many possibilities for composing a subject while remaining in one spot, but you lack a fixed frame for imagination.
With a single focal length, you previsualize the frame, and then your only choice is from which location to compose the photo. If you’re aiming for a staged photograph, you can easily imagine how it will appear through your lens. This allows you to make a rough sketch in your mind, using your imagination.
Advantages of primes in general
Another advantage of using a prime lens is that it generally has a wider maximum aperture compared to zoom lenses, allowing you to capture images with a shallow depth of field and isolate your subject from the background. This can be particularly useful for portraits, as it can help draw attention to the subject and blur out distracting elements in the background.
In addition, prime lenses are often smaller and lighter than zoom lenses, making them more portable and easier to carry around. This can be especially important for travel and documentary photography, where you need to be able to move around and react quickly to changing scenes.
Lastly, I have to say, that weight is sometimes crucial. One camera that I take whenever I’m too lazy to carry my Sony with me is Ricoh GRIIIx. That camera you can put in your pocket. But the more often you carry your camera with you the better images you take. So, using a single focal length is also beneficial because prime lenses are lightweight, small, and fast. It’s more likely that you will carry them everywhere with you, not only periodically in dedicated times.
Some Of My Recent Shots Taken With A Single Focal Length
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