click to enlarge images
In these examples, I am using the Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L lens on the 1Ds Mark III
camera on this outdoor scene of a new pool installation. In the first shot, you
can see that when the camera is pointed downward toward the pool, the posts of
the screened in pool area are angled and distorted. When doing wide-angle
photography, the wider the lens you use, the more extreme the distortion is in
the image. To correct the problem in the initial image, the camera is leveled
out to look straight ahead instead of at a downward angle. The lens is then
adjusted to shift the view downward using precision adjustment knobs on the lens
to bring the pool area into view while keeping the image sensor level. This
corrects the general perspective of the scene to have areas that are straight to
look straight while still looking downward to the pool surface. This saves
computer time and increases quality in the final image as you don’t transform
and interpolate any of the pixels in free transform.
In
this next example, this interior staircase shot is a tough angle to get without
really distorting the railings as you look down to the first floor. The Canon TS-E
17mm lens is wide enough to cover the area, but the distortion level is very
high. By leveling out the camera
view first, the image viewing area can be shifted downward to view the first
floor. The distorted staircase is corrected at the point of image exposure and
this means the Raw file is correct from the very beginning.
The
perspective control lens is very important in the studio as well. The Canon TS-E 90mm
f2.8 lens is great as a choice for product photography. The longer focal length
allows the photographer to work a little further away from the set making it
easier to work in the lighting. The ability to tilt or swing the lens can
extend the depth of field to follow the direction of the product placement and allows
more control of what is sharp. In this example the Canon 1Ds Mark III and the TS-E
90mm f2.8 lens was set up to photograph this circuit board. The lens was tilted
away from the subject so the depth of field is very shallow. In the next image,
the lens was tilted toward the subject to extend the focus to make the product
sharper. The more control we have on the front end of the image, the better the
quality is going to be after our Photoshop enhancements. Till next time… Work smarter… Not harder..
