Best Lense and Specs to Shoot this kind of Photo?

[supo]

I would like to shoot an excellent marching band photo that show the entire marching field from left to right, with not much verticle.

Below is an example of what I'm trying to do (without the bowl shape result.....click on the picture for enlarged size):

http://www.symphonicwinds.nau.edu/pages/ensembles/marching_band/index.html (http://www.symphonicwinds.nau.edu/pages/ensembles/marching_band/index.html)

I like this photo because it shows most of the field and the band members almost seem so close you can touch them - almost zoomed in.

Here, in contrast is a typical photo with a lot of verticle height and zoomed out. This is what I don't want, or like:

http://www.owasso.com/prideofowasso/band.jpg (http://www.owasso.com/prideofowasso/band.jpg)

There's just too much everything else in the photo.

This seems better, but I like the zoom in of the first one because the focus is definitely the band. The other things in this photo, even though it's less verticle, is distracting.

http://www.nd.edu/~ndband/images/monogram.jpg (http://www.nd.edu/~ndband/images/monogram.jpg)

Would a 10-22 lense get me what I want in the first group. Again I don't like that glassy-bowl look. I'm trying to get a nice picture that is somewhat in a standard size if possible, but, if not, I'd rather the end result and a panoramic type if needed. The band, WILL be marching, so that is a consideration and also this will be daytime and nightime shooting so, I'm trying to avoid stadium light influence or sunlight angle problems.

Novice obviously here. I'm getting a Canon 5d MKII and want to get the best possible shot I can - really, I want stunning.

Thanks.

[brandon9585]

That looks like a fisheye lens was used and that's the effect they give. The 10-22mm will not fit the 5d MkII. I think the 17-40 might be what you're looking for.

[codex0]

As a note, the 5d isn't compatible with the 10-22 or the Sigma 10-20. The 10-22 is an EF-S lens (crop cameras only), the 10-20 will vignette on the 5d.

[René Damkot]

There also is software to "De-fish" a fisheye shot. Fisheye lens might give you a wider angle of view then an ultra wide angle.

The higher (straight above the field) your point of view is, the more "square" the field will be.

[johnms88]

Looks like first image is a cropped fisheye. You can remove the top and bottom empty space easily with cropping.

[dschae1]

The shooters position for the shot was important to get the photo...it looks like they were very high up, like in the press box or near the top row. It certainly looks like a fisheye shot too plus it looks to have been multiple shots stitched together. Look at the two blue sections on the left...in between them, the row is not stiched as well as it could be. Also of note, is the image was cropped to panoramic dimensions, about 2 1/2 times wider than the height.

Having said all that, here's an example (http://jasperbandbooster.smugmug.com/gallery/6561227_asydC#417559697_PfH5A-A-LB) using a 28-75 lens. It is two shots stitched together with Autostitch (freeware), then cropped to panoramic dimensions and then warped a bit to give it a "fisheye" look. I was almost near the top row of the stadium seats, but had no chance of getting it all in at 28mm, so I shot left and right, panning the camera atop the tripod. A tripod is a must for this type shot. The F-stop on these two was F7. I think I should have moved out to F11 for a bit more sharpness as I had enough light for a decent shutter speed.

It would have been easier if I had my 10-22 that day, but I had loaned it to my sister and it had not made it back to me yet.

:cool: