Primes, zooms & the myth of the ‘right lens’

The conversation around prime vs zoom lenses for professional photography often arrives tangled in rules. What is right, what is wrong, what is correct? What a “professional” should choose? But the longer I’ve photographed, the more I’ve learned that creativity rarely thrives inside rigid boundaries. Our lenses shape how we move, sense and respond to place, and the best choice is the one that allows us to work in full presence with the moment.

My journey with lenses has been shaped by instinct rather than convention. I sold the classic 24–70mm f2.8 zoom early in my wedding years as I found myself reaching again and again for primes. They felt honest, intuitive and grounding. Slowing me down, they made me look deeply and connect more intimately with the scene. And over time, they became integral to my storytelling. That instinct has continued into my Fujifilm system, especially when working with Fujifilm prime lenses for branding and the wild edges of nature.

What I’ve come to understand is this: hey are not simply technical tools, they are creative partners. And the myth of the “right lens choice”, whether prime or zoom lenses, often has very little to do with creativity at all but more a jostle between ‘head’ and ‘heart’.

Why primes feel like home

Prime lenses have always felt aligned with the way I see the world. Working with a fixed focal length slows the body, sharpens presence and gently demands intention. Instead of zooming, we step closer, step back, shift perspective, feel the scene in our bodies before lifting the viewfinder. That embodied movement deepens connection and heightens awareness.

With branding work, this becomes even more powerful. Shooting portraits at 16mm would be considered “wrong” by traditional photography rules. This “wrongful choice” often has labels attached. Too wide, too distorted. Not flattering. But when I’m photographing someone in deep dialogue with place, 16mm becomes the most honest lens possible. It holds context, connection and story in a single frame. It expresses what words can’t capture, the relationship between a person and the land that shapes them.

Primes encourage that intimacy. They honour presence and help us dwell in the poetic details and liminal edges that define my work.

The feminist, AuDHD energy behind breaking lens rules

There is a deeper layer to this too. Much of the primes or zoom “correct lenses” conversation comes from historically masculine, rule-driven, technical head over heart thinking. Fixed ideas about what is allowed, what is acceptable, what is professional. And these rules are not laid out with absolute certainty, they are subjective, constructed through narrative, rigid constructs which sees folk learning these rules and continuing to replicate them.

As someone who is AuDHD (more on that here), I know my mind questions ‘whyyyyyy’ and I’m deeply intuitive, rooted in curiosity, and quite simply, those rules never made sense to me. Because yes, I understand the technical specs and applications of a lens, but I’m heart led, I sense and feel first and this is how I shoot, in an embodied and feminine way. I’ve always been drawn to the “what if”, the thrill of potentiality. To the wild edges where experimentation holds possibility. To the idea that tools should bend to our vision, not the other way around.

Working with primes has become part of my creative process and using them in “wrong ways”, well a gentle rebellion. A quiet refusal to shrink my storytelling to fit old frameworks. An act of sovereignty in how I choose to see.

Where zooms become essential partners

While primes feel like home, zooms lenses are essential partners in the field. They allow for responsiveness in fast-moving environments, particularly in nature and ocean storytelling. When working with wildlife, research teams or rapidly shifting light, zooms become extensions of instinct rather than interruptions.

While I don’t own any wide zooms, my Fujinon XF50–140mm f2.8 R LM OIS WR and XF150–600mm f5.6–8 R LM OIS WR are central to my documentary work in nature. They allow me to move between distances without breaking flow, to stay grounded on cliffs and boats, to respect wildlife boundaries while capturing behaviour with sensitivity.

This is where the nuance lies, for me it’s not about what it can do, it is about what you do with it and how you use it in your work. The dance is what allows the full spectrum of my work to unfold.

There is no “right lens” – only the lens that aligns with the moment

Breaking the myth of the “right lens choice” frees us to shoot from intuition rather than instruction. It allows us to prioritise connection over convention, feeling over formula. And that for me is where the alchemy of creativity lives.

Some scenes ask for the stillness and intimacy of primes. Some call for the agility of zooms. Many require both within a single shoot, a balance of grounding and responsiveness, intention and instinct.

The real question is not “what should I use?” but “what allows me to stay connected to the story unfolding in front of me?”

That shift in thinking, for me, changed everything.

Exploring prime vs zoom lenses for professional photography has never been about choosing one side. It is about understanding how each supports different ways of seeing, sensing and connecting. Primes help us slow down and feel the edges of a story. Zooms help us respond to the wildness of what moves around us. Together, they create a toolkit that adapts to the moment without confining our creativity.

And in branding storytelling, especially with Fujifilm prime lenses for branding, primes become powerful portals into authenticity, place and presence.

If this way of working resonates, head on over to my ‘learn with me page’ to find out about upcoming sessions on kit, creativity and minimalist setups dive deeper into how we choose tools that align with our creative identity.

→ Dive deeper into why I moved my entire system to Fujifilm (and what it changed) here.