Steam & Excursion > Two photos

Which photo looks "better"? I have always been interested in perspective and lens correction in my photos. I often correct verticals when I can, but I always wonder how it appears to others (to ME, it seems right to correct, but that's just me). What do you think? One better than the other? Shot yesterday in Chama.

Ed

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Why don't you correct it and don't tell us. If you are happy with it, we will be happy with it, too. Personally, I try to correct the vertical lines when possible. Probably you know they did this in the dark room, also. Not everyone had an adjustable-film plane camera years ago, so you could try adjusting the easel. I don't miss a bit of that. How about you?

Auburn_Ed Wrote:
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> Which photo looks "better"? I have always been
> interested in perspective and lens correction in
> my photos. I often correct verticals when I can,
> but I always wonder how it appears to others (to
> ME, it seems right to correct, but that's just
> me). What do you think? One better than the
> other? Shot yesterday in Chama.
>
> Ed

I like the top one better. I took a little liberty and edited the 1st photo to what my "eye" would've adjusted it to. Hope you don't mind. I only had "windows live photo gallery" here at work to edit it with.

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#2 definitely looks better!

Bob

Number one is a very blah picture. Not much detail. No wow factor. The bridge just seems to add interference.

Sorry, I didn't explaine very well. The ONLY thing I messed with was perspective. No other post-processing.

Ed

Auburn_Ed Wrote:
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> Which photo looks "better"?

I guess I'd stop and consider that the human eye probably does a bit of perspective distortion of its own. If you are standing there looking at the bridge, and then look through the viewfinder (or the back of the camera after you have snapped a test shot), does the test shot look the same as what you saw standing there? Now of course you are used to that distortion, so don't much think about it.

I'd say if you are using a more or less normal lens, or a long lens, then the distortion is probably close enough to what we/you are used to seeing, and there is no point in correcting it. If you are using a wide lens, then it is almost always worth correcting, unless the distortion is the whole point of the image.

Which one looks better? The top one seems more normal to me. The corrected one looks to me like an architectural drawing rather than a painting or photograph. Nothing wrong with that, but my personal opinion is that it is best used in lobby displays, construction photos, and folios to hand out to prospective investors.