User:Aristeas/Techniques/Telephoto compression

Telephoto Compression Examples

This page just shows some good examples of photographs with telephoto compression (cf. here) and related effects, collected for my personal use and as a reference in discussions with other users. Some people call this effect telephoto distortion, but IMHO the point is exactly that the telephoto perspective does not distort objects (as the wide-angle distortion does), but makes them appear compressed. One can read more about this and similar effects and how to make good use of them in the good old photography textbooks by Andreas Feininger (probably one of the greatest telephoto photographers ever).

Architecture and cityscapes

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  (300 mm FF) New York buildings, by Anoneditor
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  (332 mm FF) Lesina, by Albus65
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  (~ 432 mm FF) Castelluccio (Norcia), a village in Umbria, by Flickr user Enrico Pighetti
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  (182 mm FF) Moltbærtinden and Breiflogtinden mountain summits, by Ximonic
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  (unknown, distance 17.6 km) Mannheim power plant and skyscrapers, by Georg Buzin – thanks to the extreme distance the buildings appear at the same scale
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  (400 mm FF) Getting the lighthouse relatively big compared to the moon works only thanks to the distance

Landscapes

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  (~ 110 mm FF) A dip in the road in Färlev, Lysekil Municipality, Sweden, by W.carter. Telephoto compression makes the dip and the S curve much more interesting.
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  (163 mm FF) View of the Palouse Hills Whitman County, Washington State, by CamWow
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  (~ 579 mm FF) Poggiorsini dale in Alta Murgia National Park, by Fishmax77
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  For comparison: a wider view at ~ 161 mm FF, by Fishmax77
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  (~ 432 mm FF) Corridonia, contrada Perella, by Flickr user Enrico Pighetti
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  (~ 432 mm FF) Corridonia, via San Giuseppe, contrada Perella, by Flickr user Enrico Pighetti
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  (~ 248 mm FF) Montelupone, contrada Le Cervare, by Flickr user Enrico Pighetti
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  (~ 183 mm FF) Kasova Hora, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine, by Vian
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  (~ 232 mm FF) Kasova Hora, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine, by Vian
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  (135 mm FF) Hilly Painted Dunes scenery as seen from Cinder Cone, Lassen Volcanic National Park, by Frank Schulenburg
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  (~ 350 mm FF) Ilulissat cemetery, Greenland, by Panoramio user Petr Kraumann. Apparent extreme density of the crosses.

Related effects

Subject isolation

Subject isolation often works hand in hand with telephoto compression. Both effects intensify each other – many of the IMHO most impressive telephoto compression examples also use subject isolation. And subject isolation often works only with longer focal lengths, of course.

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  (135 mm FF) Pine trees growing on the slope of Cinder Cone, by Frank Schulenburg. Because of the uniform background, there is no telephoto compression, just subject isolation, but the overall impression is very similar.
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  (212 mm FF) Lone mangrove tree with reflection, Ashtamudi Lake, India, by Timothy A. Gonsalves. Telephoto compression shows insofar the background and the waves in the foreground would look different with a shorter focal length, but the main point is the exceptional subject isolation.