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February 16, 2005
Perspective Control
One of the more amazing aspects of digital photography is the ability to manipulate an image. I'm not talking about anything extreme, like duplicating subjects in the photograph (which, as one major newspaper discovered, will inevitably be discovered when a subject is recognized). Instead, what amazes me are the more subtle changes that can be made, particularly the changes that would be more difficult, if not impossible, to detect.
Perspective control (PC) is one such subtle change. I remember the first time I played with a PC lens. It was amazing how adjusting the lens allowed me to adjust the perspective. However, it quickly became clear that finding the correct adjustment was not a trivial matter, and even that was more a matter of guess-work than precision.
Now with Photoshop, you can throw a grid over the image to find out how skewed the perspective is, and then you can alter the perspective of the image until it lines up with the grid. Easy as one, two, three. If the guesswork is off a bit, you can use the undo option to go back to the original.
The following images illustrate this. The first was a "portrait" of the Freedom Tower in Miami (as reflected off one of the more modern buildings in downtown Miami). The second image is the same "portrait" with the perspective corrected digitally.
The Original Image
Details: ISO: 200 | Exposure: 1/250 at f/3.5 | Focal Length: 300mm
The Adjusted Image
Details: ISO: 200 | Exposure: 1/250 at f/3.5 | Focal Length: 300mm
Perspective adjusted in Photoshop.
Without seeing the images side-by-side, and without being told, would you know whether the adjusted image was altered?
Posted by slewis at February 16, 2005 7:10 AM
Comments
that's a nice trick, may come in handy sometimes
Posted by: fernando at February 16, 2005 12:44 PM
Yes, but sometimes you don't want perfect right-angles. A little skew can make a photo interesting. Both of these images have somthing to say, in their own ways.
Posted by: Matt at February 17, 2005 8:50 PM
It is amazing what one can do with ps. I really like the shot (well I like both but the second one is just perfect) -> nice work!
Posted by: Marina at February 18, 2005 3:03 AM
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