Last week, I decided to let one of my favorite and most underrated lenses get some quality time on my camera while exploring a new national forest (well, it was new to me). Lately, I’ve been falling back onto the safety of my wide-angle lenses and I began feeling creatively stifled. So, it was time to break out something different. The lens I’m referring to is the Zeiss Batis 2.8/135, mounted to my Sony a7R III. I’d wager that a 135mm prime lens wouldn’t be the first lens choice for a landscape photographer, but I was determined to make a go of it and I’m very thankful that I did.
![](https://www.oelmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/make-a-wide-shot-with-a-tele-lens.jpg)
The funny thing about longer focal lengths is that they really force you to see more critically. It’s easy to fill a frame using a wide-angle focal length and then crop down to taste (assuming you’ve got the resolution to spare). It’s also common to want to cram as much into a frame as possible. With longer focal lengths, though, you’re really put in a position where you have to see more critically and if you want to get those extra “things” in frame, it’s probably going to require you to reposition yourself farther away.
![wide shot tele lens](https://www.oelmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/make-a-wide-shot-with-a-tele-lens-1.jpg)
With that said, it is still possible to get “wide” photos even with a lens that has a focal length as long as the Zeiss Batis 2.8/135. The key is to set your camera on a tripod (ideally) in a vertical orientation and pan it across your scene. In effect, you’ll be getting bracketed photos to stitch into a panoramic composite during post, but the results are quite beautiful.
Fortunately, applications like Adobe Lightroom CC make it super easy to select multiple photos and merge them into a panoramic shot. Another advantage in this approach is that you get the best of both worlds: a wide-angle composition with the compression of a telephoto focal length. It’s a practice that I highly encourage you to try on your next outdoor shoot.
![wide shot tele lens](https://www.oelmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/make-a-wide-shot-with-a-tele-lens-2.jpg)
![tele lens wide shot](https://www.oelmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/make-a-wide-shot-with-a-tele-lens-3.jpg)
See more of Brian Matiash’s work at matiash.com.
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