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Nebraska Capitol, cellphone, up close – iPhone 13, widest lens.
Nebraska Capitol, cellphone, moved back – iPhone 13, normal lens.
John Adams House, distorted perspective – Nikon D850, 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 30mm, Manual mode, 1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 64, AF-S single point focus, Vivid picture style, Auto WB.
John Adams House, corrected perspective – Nikon D850, 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 30mm, Manual mode, 1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 64, AF-S single point focus, In Photoshop/Perspective Efex, Vivid picture style, Auto WB.
Pennsylvania Monument at Gettysburg, distorted – Nikon Z9, 14-24mm @ 26mm, Aperture Priority Mode, f/8, 1/250 sec., ISO 64, EV = +0.3 AF-S Single point focus, Vivid Picture Style, Cloudy WB.
Pennsylvania Monument at Gettysburg, corrected – Nikon Z9, 14-24mm @ 26mm, Aperture Priority Mode, f/8, 1/250 sec., ISO 64, EV = +0.3, AF-S Single point focus, Vivid Picture Style, Cloudy WB.
Buildings that appear to be falling over backward in photos bother me. People at the right and left edges of photos who appear to be several times larger than those in the center of the photo bother me. Portraits taken with a wide-angle lens, camera or cellphone can make a nose look abnormally large and distort both expressions and the shape of a subject’s face.
The ideal portrait lens rendering “normal” perspective is a 105 mm lens on a full-frame sensor, although 85 mm to 135 mm work well with a subject-to-camera distance of 10 feet.
Buildings can be saved from toppling over backward by moving back as far as possible and zooming “in,” or by being perfectly parallel to the structure. Often, however, this is neither practical nor possible. Back in ancient times – e.g. – film days, perspective-control lenses or cameras with tilt and shift mechanisms were popular to correct perspective. Digital technology has given us the ability to straighten verticals and horizontals in post processing and even in the camera itself, allowing us to capture castles, tall buildings, trees and other tall objects with almost any lens and without having to go to impossible measures to get the picture.
For years, I used a 28 mm Perspective Control Nikkor lens when photographing architectural subjects on film. Now, I’m able to use an even wider angle lens and “fix” the resulting images in any number of editing programs quickly and easily.
Living subjects are a bit trickier with dSLRs, mirrorless, cellphone cameras and other imaging devices. Leave the space of one or two people in from the right and left of the frame and keep a distance of 8 feet or more, depending on how many people are in the frame. Larger individuals are best not placed at either end of the group.
The same recommendations apply to photos taken with cellphones. If the cellphone has two or more lenses, use the longest lens for portraits. Avoid using the digital zoom (swiping to enlarge), as this can introduce unwanted digital noise to the image. For buildings, avoid tilting the cellphone “up” too much to avoid distortion.
Most post-processing applications have excellent tools for correcting perspective problems. Photoshop and Lightroom have lens correction and transform tools, as well as numerous plugins. My favorite plugin, Perspective Efex, comes bundled with the NIK collection. Dx0 Viewpoint 3, Affinity Photo, Nikon Studio NX and many other applications make it remarkably easy to make perspective corrections.
For cellphone and tablet photographers, I highly recommend the Snapseed app. It’s free and has “built-in” tutorials (I paid $30 years ago before it was bought by one of those monster corporations). Snapseed even fills in areas at the edges of the photo as it corrects the verticals and horizontals.
A trip to Ireland and Scotland is in the near future, and I’ll be taking photos of castles, churches and other old buildings – with a wide angle lens on both camera and cellphone. Making them look as “normal” and natural as possible will be forefront in my mind, while knowing the tools are there to correct those photos that don’t look normal.
It’s all a matter of perspective!
Dr. Photo – AKA John Keller - operates a full service photography studio and Gallery at Studio 5 in the Mission Arts Building in Lincoln. He teaches introductory and advanced courses in digital photography, cellphone and tablet photography and editing for Doane College in Lincoln, for the OLLI program at UNL, for SCC Continuing Education and for Florida Gulf Coast University. He also offers single and group digital photography, editing and scanning lessons. Email your digital photography and computer questions to doctorphoto1@gmail.com.
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Nebraska Capitol, cellphone, up close – iPhone 13, widest lens.
Nebraska Capitol, cellphone, moved back – iPhone 13, normal lens.
John Adams House, distorted perspective – Nikon D850, 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 30mm, Manual mode, 1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 64, AF-S single point focus, Vivid picture style, Auto WB.
John Adams House, corrected perspective – Nikon D850, 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 30mm, Manual mode, 1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 64, AF-S single point focus, In Photoshop/Perspective Efex, Vivid picture style, Auto WB.
Pennsylvania Monument at Gettysburg, distorted – Nikon Z9, 14-24mm @ 26mm, Aperture Priority Mode, f/8, 1/250 sec., ISO 64, EV = +0.3 AF-S Single point focus, Vivid Picture Style, Cloudy WB.
Pennsylvania Monument at Gettysburg, corrected – Nikon Z9, 14-24mm @ 26mm, Aperture Priority Mode, f/8, 1/250 sec., ISO 64, EV = +0.3, AF-S Single point focus, Vivid Picture Style, Cloudy WB.
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