A Perspective on Perspectives

I've always enjoyed the examples shown in books about photography that demonstrate the differences in the images produced by lenses of differing focal lengths.  Recently I found myself standing under the Peabody Coal Company's conveyer where it crosses Arizona state route 160 west of Kayenta.  The conveyer belt moves coal from the mine south of the highway to a storage and railroad pickup facility north of the highway.  From where I was standing, I could see the conveyer structure stretching away from me to the storage tower.  I made a photograph using my wide angle (17mm on full frame) lens.

Conveyer to coal storage, 17mm lens

Next, I put on a telephoto (135mm) lens, stood in the same place, and made approximately the same photograph.  The difference in perspective is obvious, the steel poles supporting the conveyer seem compressed together in comparison to the wide angle shot.  The difference in coverage of the environment is also large, the wide angle lens shows much more of the high desert surrounding the facility than the telephoto image.

Conveyer to coal storage, 135mm lens

Having a wide range of focal lengths available gives me a lot of flexibility in my perspective.  As always, click on a photo to see a larger size.