Kolkata Photo Tours
Photography Lessons

10 Years of Learning to Get Closer: A 28mm Focal Length Story

A personal reflection on how the 28mm lens has changed the way I see.

Shivam Pandey Jun 11, 2026
10 Years of Learning to Get Closer: A 28mm Focal Length Story

Ten years ago, I bought my first fixed lens — a 35mm. I thought that was close enough. Then I tried a 28mm on a trip to Varanasi, and something in my photography broke open in the best possible way.

A 28mm forces you to commit. You cannot shoot from the edge of a moment. You have to enter it. The lens does not matter. The distance does. And 28mm taught me that the only way to make photographs that feel alive is to be alive inside the moment you are photographing.

Shivam Pandey

Born in Varanasi, shaped by Kolkata — Shivam Pandey has spent over a decade reading the streets before the camera comes out. That is the skill he passes on: not technique, but awareness.

Subscribe to Kolkata Photo Tours

Photography stories, insights, and guides from the streets of Kolkata and India — straight to your inbox.

Free · No spam · Unsubscribe anytime

63 Radha Bazar Street Kolkata 700001 — available year-round
+91 8240668648 Shivamphotofarm@gmail.com Instagram