Basic photography tips - Vertical alignment

in #photography7 years ago (edited)

Many people add photos here and I am sure there are a range of editing tools to use. One thing that people might want to consider (I didn't for a long time) is the vertical alignment. This is especially useful for straight line pieces like buildings etc.

When the lens points upwards to capture the top of a tall structure, the lens will of course warp the image. Sometimes it is great to have this effect as it can add grandeur and size to a piece as a skyscraper stretches into the heavens. Sometimes, it detracts from the image.

I thought I would (very) quickly demonstrate through an adjusted image. Excuse the image I chose and the super dodgy processing but it was readily available. The picture is from Amsterdam and a little café just away from the main train station. I have actually seen views of this corner in several shows and movies since.

These were done in Lightroom very quickly and the lines in Illustrator as it was fast.

First, the original. Notice how all of the buildings lean in. Remember this is Amsterdam where all of the buildings are crooked anyway :)

To make it easier:

Now after the vertical alignment has been done:

Again, easier:

And now. Tadaa! The dodgiest processing ever.

Yes, I have a bad habit of shooting crooked too but, you can see that it makes a slight but significant difference in the image. When we observe our world, our brain adjusts it and adds or removes information to keep consistency. Even though the perspective shift is there, we do not notice it as much in the walking world. When looking at a picture of the same thing however, it becomes obvious.

This should be an experimental adjustment as each shift will of course warp other aspects of the image. It is worth playing around a little to see how this works though as it can have dramatic effects on some images and help to draw the viewer in. If you are interested in having people view your work as it was 'seen', you sometimes have to trick their minds by offering what is expected.

This was just a very quick thing I thought might help some of the amateur photographers like myself as when I look back at much older work, I wish I had adjusted some of them but no longer have the original. I see some great shots here that have been processed well but would likely benefit from some alignment touches. Share or tag someone in the comments if you think this may be useful for them too.

Have a nice day,

Taraz
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Thanks for the good advice! You helped me to understand. A very obvious example. I would like to see more of Your recommendations for photography. Thank you @tarazkp

No worries. I can add some from time to time

In this case, I will be very grateful. I'm going to read it.

This is very true! Framing and angles are so
important. 🙌🏼

Yes, it took times for me to start paying attention and I still forget at times. I also need to get in the habit of shooting a little bit wider so I have some room to adjust my crookedness.

I think one leg is shorter than the other ;)

took me a year of shooting and lots of adjustments to figure it out. 😂
and somehow, idk why, it looks even on cam but not on computer! or is that just me? 🙄
-so, i find having the grid option on, in display screen (if you have a touchscreen dslr), and adjusting your manual viewfinder frame to match, really helps me.

Not just you.
Yeah, the grid helps but for me, fine tuning is often needed. I can keystone in camera but it is too much effort :)

exactly! too much effort - hoping better tech launches so its a one time thing, without having to spend more time and effort adjusting afterward. lol so complex!

This is valuable advice, well done for sharing.

Technology has allow us to make things better without having to buy expensive Shift-lenses, and you did explain the need to do it @tarazkp. Well done. Upvoted & resteemed.

Thank you :)

Well done on your continued growth too :)

Great thank you! I will try that out today by going out and take some pictures. I follow you for more informative content, that will be useful for my own art.
Cheers from Switzerland!
Feel free to check my Guitar's Artwork, maybe you’ll like it! <3

Thanks for the tips. Very useful!

Do you know this corner?

I always use lens correction and the transformation tool on Lightroom. Works fine most of the time.

Now there's some great content. Thanks for the hard work posting!

No worries. Hope it helps :)