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Posts Tagged ‘architecture’

Personal, Photography | 0 comment

Photo Editing Catchup

Today is a big catchup day in the studio. I have a couple of neat shoots that I have covered recently that I have not yet posted about on the blog. There are more shoots scheduled for this month, some dance related, some events, and some portraits. I am really excited about trying to make more photos for clients. Hopefully more blog readers and other visitors will ask me to help them with their photo projects. I am ready to take on the challenge!

HDR Image of Smithsonian Castle - ©TimeLine Media
HDR Image of Smithsonian Castle – ©TimeLine Media

Washington, DC

Speaking of challenges, every photo shoot has them. Before every shoot that I do, I am anxious about how I am approaching the task at hand. I no longer worry about whether or not I have the equipment. My gear is no longer a limiting factor. With all the different events and conditions I have covered in my career, I know that I have everything I need to make good photos. The only question is if I have mastered when to use each piece, and how to use specific gear.

Washington Monument on 70th Anniversary of D-Day - ©TimeLine Media
Washington Monument on 70th Anniversary of D-Day – ©TimeLine Media

Emphatically, there is no bigger regret as a photographer to have a piece of gear with you that you never took out of the bag. Esepcially if realize later it could have made your shoot better. This has happened to me on a few occasions, and it affects the way I view the images later. The fact that I could have done more but did not, really bothers me. It pushes me to learn the lesson and not repeat the mistake. This is one of the reasons that I think my job as a photographer is still exciting for me. I am far from mastering the craft, but I am encouraged by my progress. Each time I shoot, I have an opportunity to make new photos. Hopefully there are people reading this blog, or following my social media channels can see how things have changed for the better! Hopefully you get to catchup on your to-do list soon!

River Piers panorama - ©TimeLine Media
River Piers panorama – ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Event, Personal, Photography, Travel | 0 comment

Smithsonian Buildings Tilt Shift

Washington, DC

The blog has been very ballroom dance heavy the last week. The dancing photos have just been a big part of my computer time, so I had them at the top of mind lately. I’ll start switching the subject out today. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to walk around some Smithsonian museum buildings in Washington, DC.

Kryptos statue - Washington, DC - ©TimeLine Media
Kryptos statue – Washington, DC – ©TimeLine Media

During the summertime months, the area is filled with groups of tourists, school groups, and other visitors to the city. Mixed with all the government workers going about their business, it is a busy time for this area. I blended in much more with the tourists pointing their cameras at all the recognizable buildings.

Lens Practice

For this walk, I just had one lens on my camera – the 24mm PC-E tilt shift. I wanted to make more comparisons with some larger buildings than the ones in my neighborhood. The Hirshhorn Museum was one that I wanted to try. There are usually not as many pedestrians or large buses parked by the Jefferson Street side, so I went there for my test. Here are the two images, the first uncorrected with the camera pointing up towards the building, the second shifted to straighten the lines of the facade.

Hirshhorn Musem - Washington, DC - perspective uncorrected - ©TimeLine Media
Hirshhorn Musem – Washington, DC – perspective uncorrected – ©TimeLine Media
Hirshhorn Musem - Washington, DC - perspective corrected - ©TimeLine Media
Hirshhorn Musem – Washington, DC – perspective corrected – ©TimeLine Media

The second is really a different view than what you see as you drive by. The main circular section looks to be suspended in mid air one story above street level. As you take photos of the building when you walk by, the “leaning back” perspective is what you normally see from close below the structure. The corrected version seems so straight, that it does not look right to my eyes! When drawing straight lines, though, everything lines up as it would on a sheet of paper if you were making a blueprint of the building. This was my first try, and it will probably not be the last time that I go back to a familiar place that I am accustomed to seeing with distorted vision due to perspective.

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Event, Photography, Technology, Travel | 0 comment

Software Perspective Correction

Final software corrected image

Post Processing

Thanks to feedback from my photographer friend, Jae, I decided to try editing the photo from yesterday’s post in software. In that case, I compared two images from a Nikon PC (perspective correction) or tilt-shift lens. Overall you can use this special lens to straighten angles of buildings that you photograph. Concurrently, the images will not have that “falling away” look. This is usually what you get when the camera is pointed up towards the top. With this in mind, here is a repost of the two images – the one on the left uncorrected, and the one on the right straightened.

Tilt Shift comparison - ©TimeLine Media
Tilt Shift comparison – ©TimeLine Media

Today, I attempted to do the same correction on the left photos, but in Photoshop CC to see how close you can get in post. In Photoshop, I selected the Perspective Warp tool by selecting it under the Edit menu. This is the dialog box that pops up:

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp - 1
Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp – 1

It tells you to draw a box around the areas that you would like to straighten. I go for the top half of the house as this is where I saw the biggest change in the photo.

Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp - 2
Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp – 2

Next, I moved the corner dots to the edges of that section of the house that I wanted to line up:

Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp - 3
Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp – 3

Turning on the Grid lines, it makes it easier to adjust the dots to be straight to each other, and the rest of the photo adjusts along with them:

Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp - 4
Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp – 4

Clicking the check mark gives you this image:

Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp - 5
Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp – 5

This is very close to the corrected image! Unfortunately, you can see how much of the photo needs to be cropped out, which means that I will lose some of the structure in order to fill in the black background.

Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp - 6
Adobe Photoshop Perspective Warp – 6

This is the real power of the tilt shift lens. In this case, the background is just made of lawn and driveway. You may need to have that area for indoor photos, or other larger projects. This also shows that this is a very specialized lens that will really show its magic in specific circumstances. It was fun trying this tool in Photoshop, and am happy that I could use this in a pinch! I would just need to set the camera back a little farther if I want to get more in the frame.

Final software corrected image
Final software corrected image

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

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