Here’s a study of framing and focal length, shot last week during the ROT Rally with my Panasonic ZS50.

I’m usually a wide-angle guy so I like to get in close, like I did in the photo above at 24mm. The bikes are unambiguously the subject while 6th street serves as the backdrop. The Ritz theater is almost lost — the wide-angle expands the space between the foreground and the background. But, I found my shadow distracting.

I stepped back and zoomed in. At a 70mm equivalent, the photo is now about the bikes and the Ritz. Telephoto compresses space front to back. The computer has biased me towards a landscape orientation but portrait works better here, I think. Plus, no more distracting shadows.

Part of my Photo Sketchbook Collection.