Edinburgh through the wide angle lens

by Grant Martin on

Spring is ebbing in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, the best time of the year in northern Great Britain. This historical city blossoms with opportunity as the season changes; green spaces tumble through the city like unrolling bolts of cloth, the castle and the Holyrood Palace glisten with visitors and sleepy residents begin to emerge from the shadows of winter to bustle about the public squares and cafés. Around the this time of the year, Princes Street hums with activity, visitors darting in and out of the TopShop and Jenners while the restaurants on Rose open their front facades to let smells of haggis and fried cod drift out into the street.

Edinburgh is city for walkers and photographers. Two to three steps in any direction and there’s another great view of the castle with a cherry tree or a statue to fold into the shot. Switch to the prime lens and there’s depth in the architectural features of an ancient building or in the lines of a passing tourist. There are generations of history in every fissure of each building, with ancient, stone walls reaching out to you in every direction while nature lovers can drink in the amazing views around Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park.

The photo opportunities alone are reason enough to visit Scotland, without a meal consumed, friendship made, or hotel bed rustled. Luckily, there’s plenty of that to experience in this country as well.

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Zurich through the wide angle lens

by Grant Martin on

One of the most entertaining instruments in the photographer’s toolbox is the wide angle lens, a massive creature full of glass, angles and depth. Contrary to traditional optics, wide angle lenses broaden the field of view available to the camera, resulting in massive, sprawling images from one single shot. It’s also got the effect of stretching anything at the periphery of the image, so often it can be a poor choice for capturing portraits.

I pretend not to be a either a person well-educated in cameras or a good photographer, but as our colleague Jeremy Kressmann puts it, it’s hard to take a bad picture with a nice lens and a huge sensor inside of your camera.

And so taking advantage of some outstanding fares to Zurich this summer, I put my Canon Rebel to work.

Zurich, the financial capital of Switzerland is a city full of depth, with rolling, lush hills, cobble stone streets, volumes of character, a flawless public transportation system and beautiful lake at its foot. Were one to wring out three Genevas into one city, it would be Zurich. In a way, it’s the perfect candidate for a blogger with a wide angle lens. Take a look.

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