Day 448, Planet Fellmongery

The fish-eye lens is peculiar creation. Some people love the wildly distorted images they create, other hate them.

I originally purchased this lens for underwater photography where its name and its application have a wonderfully ironic link. Over time I have however come to love using it for all sorts of images from urban exploration to landscapes.

For this image of the shores of Lake Fellmongery in Robe, South Australia I decided to make a point of showing off fish-eye distortion as is often the most novel use of this kind of lens. The resultant image reminds me of our own planet of brown, green and blue. The real irony here is that a fish-eye lens reproduces the closest image to how our own eyes work and due to it's optical simplicity is also one of the sharpest.

If nothing else, this image is a striking example of how our brains tell us an image is distorted when really it is not.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 448, Planet Fellmongery' 1/200s f/13 ISO320 15mm