Cape Town – Telephoto Landscapes
I’ve recently become interested in using long focal lengths for landscape photography, initially stimulated by a couple of trips to the Moravian Tuscany in Czechia (here and here), and subsequently put into practice in the tea plantations of Sri Lanka.
The technique involves using a telephoto lens, typically 100–400mm full-frame equivalent (FFE), to get an interesting perspective of the landscape from a distance. The attraction lies in both the perspective compression the lens provides and the interplay of light and shade across the folds in the landscape — quite a different approach from conventional wide-angle landscape photography, and one that produces markedly different results.
Wherever I travel, I now look for landscape vistas that might lend themselves to this approach. A trip to Cape Town in December 2025 seemed a promising opportunity. The long vistas across the Table Mountain range felt like natural candidates, and this album shows the results.
All but one of these photographs were taken with the OM-1 Mk II and the 50-200mm (100–400mm FFE) f/2.8 lens, with a mixture of tripod and handheld shots.
Beyond the physical technique, the approach depends heavily on light and shade across the landscape, and I wasn’t particularly lucky in that respect. The best shots tend to come when shooting against the light, which wasn’t possible given my timing. I think there are better photographs to be had in Cape Town using this method, and I may well have another crack at it later this year.
Photographs in this album include: Stand of Eucalyptus trees in Cape Point, Constantia winelands, Chasmanthe Floribunda (Cobra lily) at Silvermine, Sunlight in the Noordheok hills, Constantia light and shadow, and more.
For camera settings, techniques and equipment used in shoots like this, see the Technique posts on mcaughtry.photo.