Years ago, in a beginning photography class, the instructor had us pick something to take a photo of at different focal lengths – while physically moving closer or further away from the object to ensure that it filled the entire frame from top to bottom.

I chose to photograph this gazebo (and the building behind it). The result is a great demonstration of how when you use a telephoto lens, the objects in the photo appear to be compressed together. This is what photographers mean when they say that using a telephoto lens “flattens” an image, by making the background look close to the foreground.

Of all the things I learned from that photography class, this is the one that has stuck with me the most. If you’ve never tried this exercise, I highly recommend doing it and then viewing the photos side by side to see how they differ. It’s a great thing to keep in mind when composing photos and trying to reduce distracting elements in the image. For some scenes, you might get a great photo by using a lens with a long focal length. For others it might look better by using a short focal length and “zooming with your feet” to get closer to your subject.

Then again, there’s something to be said for limiting yourself to one focal length and seeing what you can come up with…