Reasons You Need a Fisheye Lens

Fisheye lenses look awesome in photographic elements, drawing curvature, depth, and fields of vision into an all-inclusive art form of impeccable photographic life. You may not be a photographer, but even so when using a fisheye lens you'll almost feel like one; and, awesome bit about them is, they're even available for iPhones and other mobile devices, so even your cell camera can take amazing pictures like never before.

Using the word need might be pushing it, but photography is all about capturing not a sole photo of some random event, but encapsulating that very memory through one person's powerful perspective. Fisheye allows you to draw out even deeper, more poignant elements of your pictures, giving them a flavor all of your own way. That, alone, should be among reasons you need a fisheye lens, but trust me there's a enough of those right here...

Distortion

It's a photographic element and method of making the picture look deviated from rectilinear projection, which gives photos some irregularity (that's a good thing if done properly). Stuff like barrel distortion and pincushion distortion can be among the reasons you need a fisheye lens, because they're impossible without them.

Distortion is necessary in challenging the viewer's field of view. It gives pictures a sense of uniqueness and redefined artistry. A standard lens, on the other hand, can do no more distortion than when the camera simply breaks down, which is enough reasons for why you need a fisheye lens.

Radial Blur

Taking your own wedding photographs? Using radial blur is the perfect, if not the best way in shooting a wedding, for it adds a sense of optical movement and is the difference between average and awesome image quality.

Probably one of the most necessary reasons you need a fisheye lens is making use of the radial-blur effect, which makes photos look almost supernatural. Simply slow the shutter speed, spin the camera 90 degrees counter clockwise, and pivot with the camera body.

Portraits

One of the best reasons you need a fisheye lens is for portraits, because they look super-real and magical through the depth of these awesome viewpoints. Extreme wide angle selfies and portraits, like those of animals and faces, work best.

While portraits themselves may be sort of an overused element in photographic artistry, the fisheye lens makes them look ten times better and far more distorted, which is a good thing. Just make sure you know some common portrait lighting mistakes to avoid before you dive into the action.

Landscapes

In fact, landscape photography hasn't become a big movement until around the 18th century, and even the it has only been in minuscule amounts. I feel this is due to the fact that a natural setting, whether seen in ultra wide or 180 degrees looks only as it does to the beholder.

However, when it comes to the reasons you need a fisheye lens, landscapes make for some truly eye-opening shots, like those from Creative Island Photo. Especially when you bend low to the ground, taking shots as if from the level of the earth, it's among the best ways to shoot photos that are razor sharp.

Astrophotography

Didn't even think of this one, did you? Well, astro photography is among the most awesome elements in reasons why you need a fisheye lens. These lenses tend to be higher in quality, most of the best being made by Rokinon and Samyang, which tend to be cheaper and wider for far more quality shots.

These lenses are also all manual focus, rather than autofocus lenses, but add an exceeding layer of quality to optics. Plus, these brands are much cheaper than Nikon or Canon, making them a steal even for being fisheye lenses.

Up Above

The most underused among reasons you need a fisheye lens is ceilings and upward angled viewpoints. These can be some really awesome shots, capturing wide angle ceiling views and cityscapes from the viewpoint almost of an ant; mesmerizing in my opinion.

Angles of view are of utmost importance when making spectacular photography, and fish eye lenses can do just that, simply by pointing the camera up at the sky for super wide views that often don't even look to be taken with fisheye lenses.

"Defishing"

While said to be a possibility among reasons you need a fisheye lens, defishing does occur and it obviously paints photographs as unbelievable pictures full of circular images and ultra wide angles of view.

When utilizing a fisheye lens in this capacity, simply lining up the horizon line with the shot, certain tools can then be used to straighten out the image almost and make them pop like never before, looking lively and open.

Curvature and Composition

By using fisheye lenses with circular images in real space, the photographer can then take unbelievably angled shots that look more distorted than normal, yet fit the particular frame in an artistic way. This is why the further you push an object to the edge of the frame, the more distorted it becomes an upon the horizon, will look like it's straight across the image.

These are spectacular photographs that play with the curvature of the earth and the particular focus of your image. Curving can get less or more noticeable, as you can see, which is why it's among reasons you need a fisheye lens.

Behind the Scenes

While less common among reasons why you need a fisheye lens, it's still a possibility that can be utilized for those who are managers, musicians, entertainers, and so on. The fisheye lens looks and feels like a back-of-the-curtain sight, showcasing worlds as if from a dream.

Most behind the scene shots will be taken in fisheye, but not all the time. They're meant to give videos a sense of 180 degrees, and yes, wide angle lenses may be more popular for this, fisheye lenses tend to show it off better (but that's just my opinion).

Depth of Field

This is another form of focusing, a way in which the photographer tricks the viewer into seeing or experiencing something at a particular length in distance. In other words, depth of field (DOF) is the literal length of distance between a scene's object and the sharpness of this object.

Since fisheye lenses are designed to create deeper fields and to stretch one's focus off into almost infinite realms, focus rang is among the many reasons you need a fisheye lens. These elements in photography can greatly boost image quality and make your photos look more than extraordinary, but almost priceless.

Creativity

Honestly, no one can tell you how or what a camera can be used for, because of these very reasons you need a fisheye lens; the possibilities in aesthetic wonder are literally endless and make other means of photography practically useless.

The fisheye lens is something that blends distortion, depth, and creativity itself all in one, for the image-taker is the only one capable of making the right decision in what to capture and how to do it. Who knows, maybe you could find your own valuable way to use fisheye lenses that no one before you has even thought of before!