Perspective Distortion Presents Challenges for Urban Photographers in Melbourne
Good quality photographs of urban properties are essential marketing tools for builders, architects and real-estate agents and frequently require the services of urban photographers. Melbourne businesses located in the central business district with tall buildings and crowded roadways bustling with activity are often the subject of these photo shoots.
Photographing an urban landscape can be interesting, but it is not without its own set of challenges.
One interesting challenge in urban photography is avoiding converging verticals which means making the straight buildings look straight in pictures. Converging verticals is one way of presenting a dramatic perspective so it does have its place in urban photography, but when photographing buildings for real estate purposes, it is often expected that photographs show the building exactly as it is.
A realistic perspective is required in these cases. So how do you correct this?
While taking the photograph
One easy way to avoid converging verticals is by using shift lenses where the lenses can be shifted upwards parallel to the sensor, instead of moving the whole camera. Shift lenses are an expensive purchase, justified only if you take a lot of building pictures. Some simple steps can be taken when possible to minimise these converging lines.
• Put some distance between the building and the camera especially when you are using wide angle lenses. This is often not possible in cities due to other buildings and people, but even a few metres can make a difference. Some photographers shoot early in the morning or on weekends to avoid the crowd.
• Elevate the camera. Try to find a higher spot, perhaps the window of a nearby building where you will be mid-level with the building to be photographed. Do not go higher or the bottoms of the building will start to converge. The aim is to hold the camera parallel to the building while covering the whole building.
Post-photography corrections
If the above methods are not possible, there is always software correction. Software products like Photoshop allow you to manipulate the pixels in order to correct the perspective. Minor adjustments will not cause much change in image quality, but significant correction can result in loss of image sharpness.
Different situations require different techniques and which one to use is entirely up to the urban photographers. Melbourne builders and realtors can use ‘We Shoot Buildings’ for your urban photography needs as we are familiar with all of these techniques.
Visit our website to see examples of our urban photography as well as pricing information.