Factors of spatial imaging

Have you ever assumed that your powerful wide-angle lens would transform the magnificent expanse of the landscape in front of you into an equally spectacular image all by itself? And then been mightily disappointed with the result in your hands? This is not surprising and you are certainly not alone in this, because depth and width as the 3rd dimension cannot be reproduced directly in a two-dimensional photograph. Only their suggestion with proxies and criteria, which our perception uses for the construction of depth, is possible. In order to create the appropriate and correct impression of depth from the arbitrary spatial illusion that every photograph creates, knowledge and willingness to work are required.

From a purely technical point of view, however, we must first distinguish between different recording devices. Stereo cameras follow the model of our eyes and expose two individual images through two lenses offset side by side, which, projected on top of each other, merge to create a spatial impression. Panoramic cameras with tilting optics, such as the Horizon 202 or the Noblex 135, give us images in cylindrical perspective. According to this type of projection, only those lines are rendered straight that are parallel to the axis of rotation of the lens. All other straight lines are displayed more or less curved. The third exotic in this series are fisheye lenses. With them, we can expose full-frame images at 180° angles that follow the spherical perspective. This means that all straight lines, except those running towards the camera, are recorded more or less curved. But these are all exotics with limited suitability for everyday use. The vast majority of photographs are intended to be close to our way of seeing space and are therefore made with central perspective lens constructions and cameras.


The kind of image perspective depends only on the construction of the camera and the lens and in contrast to our perception, which fixes us to the central perspective, in photography we have the choice between several kinds of spatial projection. In addition, photographic technology gives us the means to actively turn all kinds of screws and either record the scene in front of us approximately as we see it, or to emphasize or diminish the depth effect. We do this by consciously determining the factors of angle of view, direction of view, and the inclusion of certain imaging factors. All of these are powerful tools for giving us a conception of space that our perception withholds from us. For even if we close one eye and deprive ourselves of binocular depth criteria, our impression of space does not change permanently! Especially often we will resort to these means in order to help the image to become more vivid via a stronger depth effect. In the following sections, we explore the effects of the three features separately as best we can, but you should always remember that they only have their proper effect in the considered combination.

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Main Image creation, Depth and Size

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