Often most people tend to think of shooting things at a distance with their zoom lens, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Here is how to get creative with your zoom lens.

Get in close

There is nothing stopping you from getting in close, apart from your lenses minimum focal distance. I adore Tamron’s 28-200mm zoom lens (for Sony E mount cameras) as the minimum focal distance is only 7.5 inches. That means you can get up quite close. The lens compression and bokeh on an image at f/5.6 is still pretty good. And look how much more interesting the image is.

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35mm

84mm

130mm

Extension tubes

What about extension tubes? Do you have a set you rarely use? Throw them on your zoom lens and go macro. It adds a whole new world to the life of this lens. I went a little creative on focus, composition and color toning as well.

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200mm with 36mm extension

200mm with 36mm extension

172mm with 36mm extension

Omni Creative Filters

I have just recently purchased these Omni Creative Filters myself, and I am still getting a feel for them, but so far, they’re great. Granted they probably aren’t to everyone’s taste, but if you are looking for something a little more creative and artistic, they are loads of fun to play with.

I love the rainbows on this fountain. I’d love to try out on a futuristic styles model shoot.

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Base image

With creative filter

With creative filter

With creative filter

And just check out this gorgeous shot with my dog. The beauty of the 200mm was that she didn’t even know I was taking her photo!

Chloe, 180mm and Omni Filter

Now I did put some cool and funky creative edits on these images in Lightroom as well. Want a copy of the same presets for yourself? Visit my website and download a copy for FREE!

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