A Frame Within a Frame: Shooting at 24mm Has Its Challenges and Rewards

A frame within a frame is always on my brain - when I'm shooting wide on my 24mm prime lens. That's because I'm always considering foreground layers when it comes to composition. Shooting subjects straight on can be unflattering compared to other focal lengths that come with nice bokeh when opened wide up. The 24mm needs help, in my opinion. Even subjects that I shoot with at 35mm have a completely different feel compared to 24mm. This is all very subjective, I'll be the first to admit, and a lot of it falls to the photographer and style of shooting. But had I taken this same shot without the iron loop in the foreground (and not cropped it square), this image would have been flat and I wouldn't have bothered with the shot in the first place.

When I first picked up a 24mm prime I was shocked at how wide it was. I've seen wide focal lengths before but it wasn't until I chose the prime lens-only route that it really sank home that this focal length was not only fixed but super wide for general street photography. I do own an 18mm prime lens too, which is of course, ridiculous and can only be used in limited situations in my work. It's at the 24mm mark that a lot of street photography becomes more doable and enjoyable, at least for me. Though composition remains an ever-present challenge in creating imagery that's dynamic and suited to 24mm, I find the perspective quite easy to adapt to after I'd used it for a few days when I first purchased one of these primes. Now, I can pretty much predict what an image will look like in the frame before I line up the camera with my subject. This is the kind of relationship that photographers can have with prime lenses that may not be as special as zoom lenses: it's one focal length at a time, much like a relationship with a significant other (or most anyway!).

Anyone else out there shooting at 24mm?