Choosing the right focal length can make the difference between a flat, lifeless landscape photograph and one that truly captures the essence of a scene. Renowned landscape photographer Nigel Danson has released a comprehensive video tutorial that explores how different focal lengths from 14mm to 400mm can transform landscape photography, helping photographers move beyond cluttered, distant compositions to create images with clear, compelling subjects.
Danson begins his exploration with ultra-wide focal lengths around 14-20mm, demonstrating the capabilities of lenses like the NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S. While these focal lengths can produce exciting results, they present significant challenges for photographers. At 14mm, standing too far back often results in compositions filled with dead space, mountains that appear tiny and insignificant, and scenes lacking any obvious focal point. However, Danson shows how these issues can be overcome by moving extremely close to strong foreground elements.
Drawing from his experiences photographing in dramatic locations like the Faroe Islands and Madeira, Danson demonstrates the technique of positioning himself almost directly over rocks and other foreground features. This approach creates a powerful visual connection between the foreground, midground, and background elements of the composition. He emphasizes the importance of using bold, simple shapes and dramatic skies to fill the ultra-wide frame, ensuring that the expansive view feels intentional and purposeful rather than scattered and chaotic.
Moving to the more manageable 24mm focal length, Danson explains why this range often feels more natural for capturing open landscapes. At 24mm, photographers can still include meaningful foreground detail while maintaining enough distance to hide messy midground areas that might distract from the overall composition. This focal length prevents distant peaks from shrinking away to insignificance while allowing coastal cliffs and towering sea stacks to maintain their dramatic impact instead of becoming tiny shapes at the edge of the frame.
The tutorial then shifts focus to the versatile mid-range band of approximately 30-70mm, which Danson considers crucial for landscape photography. This range provides subtle compression effects while maintaining a sense of width, making it ideal for capturing cabins positioned at the end of leading lines, sweeping beaches, and simple mountain ridges. Danson also discusses the practical advantages of staying within moderate focal lengths like 30-40mm, noting that this approach keeps depth of field more manageable and avoids the need to use extremely small apertures like f/16 or f/22, which can soften image detail through diffraction.
Woodland photography receives particular attention in the video, as Danson acknowledges that many photographers find forest scenes overwhelming and difficult to compose effectively. He reveals that he rarely uses focal lengths wider than 30mm when photographing among trees, preferring the 40-70mm range to eliminate visual chaos and build cleaner, more organized layers within the composition. Through examples of winter scenes with snowy paths and summer foliage, he demonstrates how a modest shift from 24mm to something like 36mm can suddenly transform a cluttered mass of branches and trunks into a simpler, more structured composition.
Danson shows how a modest telephoto perspective maintains the authentic sense of place while tightening up the spacing between trees and atmospheric elements like fog, creating relationships that are difficult to visualize until seen in practice. Throughout this section, he provides insights into his decision-making process for determining when to abandon mid-range focal lengths and transition to longer telephotos, though he deliberately avoids creating rigid rules that might limit creative flexibility.
The latter portion of the video explores longer focal lengths that many landscape photographers tend to overlook or avoid entirely. In the 70-120mm mid-telephoto range, Danson often works near the shorter end of this spectrum, using these focal lengths to eliminate distracting pathways while preserving some foreground interest and maintaining a full mountain backdrop. This approach allows for more selective composition while retaining the grand scale that makes landscape photography compelling.
As focal lengths extend toward 200mm and beyond, Danson demonstrates how compression effects can be used creatively to stack ocean waves against sea stacks, isolate graphic details in remote locations like Patagonia and Antarctica, and extract compelling patterns from waterfalls and mountain faces. He also explores the artistic possibilities of shooting at wide apertures with long lenses, showing how this technique can transform backlit grass and water spray into glowing, semi-abstract scenes that blur the line between realistic documentation and artistic interpretation.
Near the conclusion of the tutorial, Danson shares personal insights about his equipment preferences and working methods. He reveals that the NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S serves as his primary lens for approximately half of his landscape images, citing its versatility and image quality. In a hypothetical scenario where he could only carry one lens, Danson indicates that a simple 40mm prime would likely be his choice, though he maintains some flexibility in his real-time decision-making process while working in the field.
The video serves as both a technical guide and creative inspiration for landscape photographers looking to expand their understanding of how focal length selection impacts their work. Danson's approach combines practical advice with real-world examples, helping viewers understand not just which focal lengths to use, but when and why to make specific choices based on the scene before them.
