5 Tips for Stunning Ultra-Wide Angle Photography

5 Steps to Mastering Ultra-Wide Angle Lens Photography

Published by

Nickolas Warner

on

April 20, 2025

Wide-angle lenses are often the first tools new nature photographers reach for. It’s tempting to see a vast, sweeping vista and want to capture every inch of it. Naturally, you grab the widest lens you have to get it all in the frame. But more often than not, this leads to images that feel flat or generic—like a gas station postcard—rather than evoking the awe you felt in the moment.

To help you avoid that trap, here are five tips for mastering the use of ultra-wide angle lenses.

1. Get Close

When I say close, I mean really close. Wide-angle lenses have a huge field of view, which means that unless you’re right up against your subject, it’s going to appear small and insignificant.

A close-up view of a yucca plant in the foreground, with the Grand Canyon and a sunset in the background, showcasing dramatic clouds and light rays.

A close-up view of tall green yucca plants with the Grand Canyon and dramatic cloudy skies in the background during sunset.

Take these two photos of the Grand Canyon. Aside from one being edited and the other straight out of camera, what do you notice? It’s the same scene, taken only a minute apart, but the compositions feel dramatically different—even though the camera only moved about 12 inches. One shot feels cluttered and unfocused; the other is clean and striking. That small movement brought the yucca plant into prominence, turning its leaves into leading lines and eliminating background distractions.

With wide-angle lenses, closer = better.

Screenshot

Many of the images on my website were taken with the lens much closer to the subject than you’d expect. In fact, this one was shot with the camera lens literally resting on the ground. You’ll likely need to focus stack and be mindful of your lens’s minimum focusing distance—but the impact is worth it.

2. Be Mindful of the Sky

With ultra-wide compositions, you’re almost always going to have some sky in your frame. On days with dramatic clouds and beautiful light, this works to your advantage—use as much sky as possible. But what about those dull, blue-sky days?

Try angling your camera downward to cut out the empty sky. Even better, wait until just after sunset, when the sky begins to glow with soft purples, oranges, and yellows. Twilight can add a magical mood, even on cloudless days.

A gnarled, dead tree stands against a starlit sky, surrounded by textured rock formations in a desert landscape.

A dramatic view of towering rock formations illuminated by starlight, with a twilight sky displaying soft clouds and a few visible stars in the deep blue atmosphere.

Another trick for completely clear skies? Wait for the stars. A few early stars can turn an otherwise boring sky into a subtle, sparkling backdrop that enhances the composition.

3. Don’t Center Your Subject

Ultra-wide lenses tend to visually compress the center of the frame, making your main subject appear smaller than it really is. Instead of placing your focal point dead center, try tilting the camera slightly downward and placing your subject in the upper third of the frame. This allows the natural distortion of a wide-angle lens to exaggerate the foreground and make the subject appear larger and more dynamic. Switching from landscape to portrait orientation even further emphasizes this effect.

Look at these two photographs and notice how more dramatic this rock spire is in the vertical shot. Use the lenses distortion to your advantage.

Close-up view of ocean waves crashing against a rocky shore at sunset, with a tall rock formation silhouetted against the sun.

A dramatic coastal scene featuring a tall rock formation silhouetted against the setting sun, with gentle waves washing onto the sandy shore in the foreground.

Centering can still work in some situations, but be deliberate about it. Don’t rely on it by default.

4. Foreground, Foreground, Foreground!

It may seem counterintuitive, but in most ultra-wide compositions, the foreground takes up a large portion of the image. That makes finding a strong foreground element one of the most important parts of the shot.

Start by identifying your main subject or focal point. Then, play what I like to call “find the foreground.” This could be running water, a pool of reflections, mud cracks, wildflowers, ice crystals—even animal tracks. The foreground should either complement the subject or lead the viewer’s eye toward it.

It’s a tough truth, but even if your subject is spectacular, if the foreground doesn’t work, the image probably won’t either.

Finding Wide Angle Foreground Flowers Cactus

Finding Wide Angle Foreground Animal Tracks Alaska Tour

5. Find the Frame Within a Frame

One of the coolest advantages of ultra-wide lenses is their ability to pull in elements from the edges of a scene to create a frame within the frame.

Framing With Wide Angle Lenses Utah Fisher Towers

Sure, natural framing works with any focal length—but with an ultra-wide, you can get really close to your framing element while still capturing the entire scene beyond it. Rocks, tree trunks, arches, or overhangs all become dramatic frames when exaggerated by a wide lens.

This technique adds depth, intrigue, and structure to your image.

Final Thoughts

Ultra-wide lenses are incredibly powerful, but they require a thoughtful approach. Get close, build strong compositions, and embrace creative framing—and your images will go from postcard generic to gallery-worthy.