Photography Distance Guides
In-depth articles on subject distance, working distance, and distance calculations for bird, wildlife, portrait, and video photographers.
Subject Distance for Video: Staying in Focus While Moving
Video demands that focus move with your subject, and understanding subject distance is the key to making that seamless. Lens choice, AF tracking settings, and distance management for smooth video focus.
Read articleWildlife Safety Distances: How Far Is Far Enough?
Minimum safe distances for bears, bison, moose, raptors, marine mammals, and songbirds, with lens recommendations for each distance and the ethical principles behind them.
Read articlePortrait Distance: What Focal Length at What Range
From 35mm environmental portraits at 1m to 135mm compression at 4m, how working distance shapes face rendering and background separation in every portrait scenario.
Read articleMacro Photography: Working Distance Explained
Why a 50mm macro and a 180mm macro both reach 1:1 but produce completely different results with live subjects, and how to match focal length to the insects, reptiles, and flowers you actually shoot.
Read articleStreet Photography: The Right Distance for Strangers
How far for 28mm vs 50mm vs 135mm on the street, the proximity zones that govern how noticed you'll be, zone focus settings for close candid work, and the signals that tell you when you've crossed a line.
Read articleTelephoto Compression: How Distance Changes Your Background
Telephoto lenses don't compress anything, shooting distance does. Here's the geometry behind why backgrounds loom large from far away, and how to use it deliberately for portraits, wildlife, and the giant moon trick.
Read articleBird Photography: How to Calculate If Your Lens Is Enough
Is 500mm enough for a Robin at 10m? A Heron at 50m? The exact formula, a species-by-species focal length guide, and why APS-C often beats full frame for reach-per-pound on birds.
Read articleMinimum Focus Distance: What It Really Means (and What It Doesn't)
MFD is measured from the sensor, not the front element. A 100mm macro with 30cm MFD has only 14cm of actual working distance. Here's how to read the spec correctly and find the number that actually matters in the field.
Read articleNight Sky Photography: How Far Away Are the Stars?
Stars are at infinity, which is why the infinity mark on your focus ring is often wrong. Why lenses focus past optical infinity, how to find true infinity focus in the dark, the 500 rule for star trails, and when hyperfocal beats infinity for foreground shots.
Read articleArchitecture Photography: Distance, Perspective, and Distortion
Converging verticals are not a lens problem. They are a distance problem. How far you stand from a building controls the convergence, the foreground, and whether the structure looks grand or cramped. Here is how to choose.
Read articleConcert Photography: Working Distance in Dark Venues
Three songs, a pit 4 metres from the stage, and lights that swing between blown-out spots and near-darkness. How working distance determines focal length, and how to use the calculator to plan your next concert shoot.
Read articleWedding Photography: Distances for Every Moment
Church ceremony at 25 metres needs 200mm. Couple portraits at 3 metres need 85mm. Reception tables at 2 metres need 35mm. The working distance for every wedding moment and exactly which focal length makes each one work.
Read articleCalculate Subject Distance
Use our free calculator to find exactly how far your subject was, or needs to be, for any lens and camera combination.
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