Intentional Telephoto

I recently spent a couple weeks in the Grand Staircase area of southern Utah, with the intention of photographing the fall color that is found near the more watery sections of that dazzling place.

I prepared for the trip by bringing two cameras and a variety of lenses, including an 11-16mm ultra wide, an 18-135 all-purpose zoom, and a 70-300 telephoto. Yet on the drive in, for whatever reason, I became possessed by the notion of solely using the telephoto lens, and seeing what that challenge would do for me, creatively.

As my educational background included several art classes covering a variety of mediums, I was well aware of the concept of restriction breeding creativity. What this means is that when an artist is presented with just one brush, one color and a canvas of one size, the creative process is easier to digest and one is quicker to create something. On the flip side, when presented with 100 brushes, unlimited colors and a huge blank sheet, the overwhelming possibilities often stunt the creative process. I refer to this as “writer’s block for artists”. On my trip to Utah, I was curious to see how this would play out in the world of focal lengths.

Because of this limitation, I found myself looking at the world differently. For those who don’t know the difference in lenses, here’s a quick frame of reference: A wide angle lens captures everything you can see with your eye, including some of your peripheral vision. A mid range lens captures basically what you can see if you make a large circle with both of your hands together, and holding them in front of your face. A telephoto lens only captures what you can see if you make a circle with one hand, hold it a few inches in front of one eye, and close the other eye. As you move your hand further and further from your eye, the view in that circle mimics the effect of zooming in with your telephoto. In fact, this technique is exactly what I do when I’m looking for a shot while out in the field.

As you can tell, seeing the world only through a little porthole like that will completely change the way you see it. And in a place as beautiful as southern Utah, the usually overwhelming landscape didn’t present the usual challenges, because I was forcing myself to only see small chunks of it at a time. This restriction allowed me to focus much more on the smaller details of the larger landscape, seeing how elements of the land interacted with one another, where they overlapped, and how they changed with the light.

Almost immediately I was drawn to the isolated trees that dotted the golden waves of sandstone. These silent creatures of immense fortitude, thriving in a land of otherwise desolate beauty, captivated me like nothing else did. Without speaking, they presented a story of perseverance, of absolute resilience (I named my series of photographs of these trees “Resilience” due to this characteristic).

Just as captivating were the layers of the land, the edges and contours, stacking up one above the other when compressed through a telephoto lens. Due to the unique topography of the Grand Staircase area, these layers are most insistent on your sight, always present at the edge of the horizon, as well below your feet. Whether standing in a slot canyon looking at the waves of solid sandstone rising above you, or at the edge of Bryce Canyon overlooking the countless hoodoos arranged in a seemingly purposeful manner, these layers are the defining feature of the land. Being restricted to a telephoto, I was able to let go of the pressure of “getting it all in” and focus instead on the exact features I wanted to capture, the moments of fleeting light on the ridges, the details I wanted to portray in all their abstract beauty.

In hindsight, this challenge was the best thing I could have done when I set out to capture the beauty of this special place. With my intentional restriction came bountiful inspiration, resulting in photos I would never have captured otherwise. Would I challenge myself like this again in the future? Absolutely. I highly recommend you try it, too. You’ll be amazed at how differently you’ll see the world.

**Disclaimer** I did, in fact, use my other lenses for very specific scenes that I had predetermined to capture on this trip. Rules are meant to be broken, after all!