Understanding the effect of different focal lengths on photography

After finding a parking place on the St. Anthony Main side of the Stone Arch Bridge, we all walked over to the west end of the bridge grabbing a few photos as we went. We gathered together while Don discussed some of the properties of lenses and their use in landscape photography. He explained how longer focal lengths can compress a scene, making the background and foreground seem closer together. And how shorter focal lengths will tend to emphasize the foreground and make the distance between the foreground and background seem further than it does to the eye.

After exploring the Mill City Ruins area, we walked back across the bridge grabbing a few more photos along the way. We headed along Main Street to the Lower Trail and Hennepin Island – a location this writer had previously never been but definitely plans to return.

It was a beautiful, sunny, cloudless day – a Top Ten weather day, probably the last we will have for the next few months. It was a great time to be outside! It did provide rather harsh shadows though. – Al Kiecker