Why farther away is sometimes better.

When we see something we like, we tend to get closer to it. Not only to see it better, but it makes sense to photograph it from a better position. After all, closer is better, right?

That axiom doesn't always hold true. In the case regarding the above photograph, moving closer to the far shore (and thus the mountains) would end up blocking out the mountains. That may be hard to initially believe, but put yourself on the far shoreline and all you would see is trees when facing toward where the mountains were. As you back up you would see the cloud and then eventually the tall peaks would be exposed. It wouldn't be until you were a significant distance away that the whole scene would lie stunningly before you.

There is another reason why being farther away works. As you get closer a wider angle lens is needed. This causes a perspective change in the image and undermines the tops of the mountains. Consider expressing the distance from you to the bottom of the mountain (B) and from you to the top of the mountain (T) as a ratio. Let's say the ratio is B:T which works out to 94:91. The difference is insignificant, just a hair over 3%. As you approach the mountain the ratio changes to let's say 47:42. The difference here is almost 11%. As you approach you need to use a wider angle lens to get the whole image in, and all the time the difference increases. This is seen as a distortion where the top of the mountain seems smaller relative to the bottom than when you were farther away.

This issue with distortion is the same reason why portrait photographers use mild telephoto lenses instead of wide angles when shooting their subjects. Shooting from farther away also allows the background to be seen relative to the foreground. This could be remedied somewhat if a camera was used on a drone so you could get above the canopy. There is, however, another factor.

Telephoto lenses cause a phenomenon called compression. This is where the background is brought up relative to the foreground and is related to ratios, only this time the ratio becomes you to the foreground (F) and you to the background (B). The F:B ratio when close to the far shore could be 1:2000 whereas the current ration could be 1:400. This makes the mountains in the background seem five times larger in the second shot than in the first shot relative to the trees.

You don't always have to be close to something to get a good photograph of it. Position and focal length play an enormous role when framing a subject.

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen