Give Travel & Nature Photos a Unique Look with a Super-Telephoto Lens (VIDEO)

When heading out for a day of landscape photography, chances are you reach for a wide-angle lens—or perhaps one in the 70-200mm range. But if you want to create images with a unique look, it’s time to consider using a super-telephoto instead.

Christian Irmler has a passion for photographing landscapes in Europe and teaching his techniques to others. He’s having trouble walking far these days due to a bum knee, so he switched things up and spent a day shooting outdoors with a 200-600mm zoom. And he came home with some fantastic images.

Irmler says the excursion was an enjoyable eye-opening experience, and in the tutorial below he explains his approach. Even if you’re able to hike for days on end, we encourage you to expand your skills by giving your longest lens a try the next time you venture into the great outdoors.

This was the first time Irmler shot landscapes with his super-telephoto lens, and he achieved great results and learned a lot in the process. And you will too by watching this behind-the-scenes episode on a windy day in Mostviertel, Austria.

As you’ll see, composition is a whole new ballgame when shooting with big glass, and Irmler offers some great advice for framing scenes with a long focal length. One challenge is to scrutinize the scene carefully and pick out fine details in the distance.

Achieving correct exposures also requires doing things differently when your lens has a relatively slow f/5.6-6.3 aperture range as compared to a much faster wide-angle lens. A sturdy tripod is obviously a must, and Irmler’s other advice is extremely helpful. So take a close look and add a super-tele to your landscape bag of tricks.

Be sure to visit Irmler’s YouTube channel for more landscape photography adventures, and check out another tutorial we posted recently with eight fun landscape photography hacks that really work. 

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