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One crucial part to creating a great image is choosing the right lens for the job. A lot of the choice can be based on preference, but there are a few things to consider when choosing a lens for the shot you’re doing.

Wide Angle

Picking a wide lens can be tricky when shooting fashion. Shooting with a wide lens can teeter between a really cool look and a very unflattering one. In my opinion 35mm is a great balance between wide enough and not too wide. One potentially troublesome characteristic of a wide lens is the tendency to overly distort things. Barrel distortion will make things appear inflated. Not a good look when you’re shooting models. The other way wide angle distortion can be an issue is when things are appearing to come towards the lens. Watch out for the clown feet. Cheaper wide lenses will show more distortion than pricier ones, and the wider you go the more distortion you will get. I recommend staying between 24mm and 35mm.

Mid-range Telephoto

I swear by 85mm as a focal length for shooting fashion. In my opinion it gives the perfect balance of telephoto compression and showing the environment. It is great on location as well as in the studio. It can be used at full height and closer crops as well. Canon and Nikon both make 85’s in mid-range as well as high end versions. If you can spring for the pro series versions I’m not going to stop you, but rest assured that the more affordable versions from both companies are great lenses that are sharp even wide open.

Telephoto

For tight crops and beauty it’s nice to have a longer telephoto lens. Something in the 100mm and up range is great for these types of things. The long lenses give a great amount of compression that easily blows backgrounds out of focus and separates your subject from the background. These lenses are also great for beaches and other wide open locations where space isn’t an issue.

Primes or Zooms

The debate between prime lenses and zoom lenses can be pretty heated. I personally prefer primes. When I first started to learn the basics of photography, I only used prime lenses and it has taught me to move my feet, be conscious of what’s in my frame, and taught me a lot about composition. Primes also tend to be sharper and faster. For me, these are two huge selling points for primes. A lot of my work is shot with a very shallow depth of field and being able to shoot between F/1.8 and F/2.8 is huge for me. The most high end zooms typically only open up to 2.8. This can be a limiting factor.

Third Party Lenses

I personally don’t use any third party lenses. It has been my experience that they just simply don’t perform well enough for serious work. Sharpness, color, and focusing are crucial and the third party lenses tend to lack in those respects. I have, however, heard great things about the new line of Sigma Art lenses. There are exceptions to every rule, and from what I’ve seen, these are that exception.

At the end of the day, it’s completely up to you to find what lens styles and focal lengths work best for you. There are a number of affordable places to rent lenses from while you make your choices and figure out what you like. Check out reviews of specific lenses and do your homework before you buy. Lenses can obviously get pricey and it’s better to only spend your money one time.

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By Dana Pennington

Dana is a Denver based photographer that studied photography at Metropolitan State College of Denver and The Art Institute of Colorado. From there he began his career as a fashion, beauty, editorial, and documentary photographer.