A Pretty Subject!

[Marvin Mattelson]

Pat,

The further back you stand, the less distortion you get. Distortion is the function of distance and not focal length. A wide angle lens and a telephoto lens will give identical distortion as long as the subject to camera distance remains the same.

If you stand several feet in front of someone who is holding their palm out towards you, (like a traffic cop) you'll see the size of their hand is much larger than the size of their head. If you move twenty feet back you'll see the size relationship is much more normal looking, therefore less distorted.

The advantage of the longer lens is that when you stand farther away the subject will occupy a larger portion of the image giving more detail and better resolution.

Your photo also suffers from overexposure in the lights. The tones are blown out to white. There is far too great a contrast between the lights and the shadows. Move her farther away from the light source (the window). You may have to give your photo a little more exposure.

Good luck!