My latest trip

[Shipman]

Went to DC this week and came home with a few shots I liked, hope you guys enjoy as well.

1.

DSC_0007 by mshipman89, on Flickr

2.

DSC_0074 by mshipman89, on Flickr

3.

DSC_0157 by mshipman89, on Flickr

4.

DSC_0049 by mshipman89, on Flickr

5.

DSC_0045 by mshipman89, on Flickr

6.

DSC_0065 by mshipman89, on Flickr

7.

DSC_0001 by mshipman89, on Flickr

8.

DSC_0084 by mshipman89, on Flickr

9.

DSC_0174 by mshipman89, on Flickr

10.

DSC_0073 by mshipman89, on Flickr

 

[Shipman]

Is 10 too many to post at once? Sorry but I am open for C&C if available.

 

[Stevepwns]

I am constantly amazed at the vast amount of photos that come from DC, I work there and visit to take pictures all the time. Yet when I see others that shoot DC I enjoy seeing the different shots they get of the exact same thing I have shot. Love it. Great shots.

My only peave, the Capital looks crooked. but other than that, I think they are all great.

 

[SCraig]

Actually several of them are leaning and I don't think the heavy vignettes on several help. I like #6 though, great shot.

 

[DarkShadow]

A few do have a slight tilt but other then that I thinks these shots are very nice.They are sharp with nice color not over the top and good contrast.Nice job. 6,7 and 8 my favorite's. On #8 not crazy about the vignette on far right,IMO it takes away from the picture.

 

[Shipman]

Thanks guys, I agree about the lean, I did a lot of walking and was just carrying the camera with me without a bag all day, so I didnt bring my tripod which I should have. As soon as I went to process them I noticed the angle, those were the ones with the least aggressive angles out of all of them so I decided to keep them. Again I appreciate the comments guys, thanks.

@Stevepwns: DC was awesome, that was my first time back since a trip in highschool so it was really cool seeing everything again with a different eye. I want to go back very soon, out of all of the major cities around me I seemed to like that one the best. I never had an issue with traffic which is a rarity. Im in philadelphia all the time and it was like a night and day contrast. Ill be going back hopefully very shortly because there was so much I wanted to shoot but was running out of time, there is some really great architecture in that city.

 

[SCraig]

Thanks guys, I agree about the lean, I did a lot of walking and was just carrying the camera with me without a bag all day, so I didnt bring my tripod which I should have. As soon as I went to process them I noticed the angle, those were the ones with the least aggressive angles out of all of them so I decided to keep them. Again I appreciate the comments guys, thanks.

Images that aren't straight or have distortion in them are not difficult to fix in post processing as long as there is room around the subject. The edges of the image tend to get wrecked, how much depending on the level of correction. Just as an example, here is your last shot straightened. The people on the right are gone since when I straightened it all I had left there was an arm so I cropped it slightly.

 

[Shipman]

Thanks for that, I understand that cropping could help in certain areas but with the captiol building I thought it wouldnt, because if I crop its obviously going to be in a straight line so no matter how high up I go everything will still be on a slight angle. I need to figure out how to rotate the picture a few degrees either way and then crop it but every time I attempt it they just wind up rotating a full 90 degrees.

 

[SCraig]

Thanks for that, I understand that cropping could help in certain areas but with the captiol building I thought it wouldnt, because if I crop its obviously going to be in a straight line so no matter how high up I go everything will still be on a slight angle. I need to figure out how to rotate the picture a few degrees either way and then crop it but every time I attempt it they just wind up rotating a full 90 degrees.

Some / most software has a true straightening tool. In most cases a line is drawn along an area of the image that should be vertical or horizontal and the image is then rotated to match the line. In the edit above I used the seam in the wall to straighten it.

The problem is that in many cases, especially when using a relatively wide-angle lens, there is more than just straightening required. Look at the image I Edited and at the right rear corner there is another line that should be vertical and isn't. This is called "Keystone" distortion and is frequently seen when shooting buildings from below. The distance from the camera to the building at the top is longer than the distance from the camera to the building at the bottom which causes the image to lean in from both sides.

With very wide-angle lenses the lines actually bow instead of just diverge. When they bow out it is called "Barrel" distortion and when they bow in it is called "Pincushion" distortion. Again there are algorithms built into a lot of editing software today to handle all of these problems.

Sometimes it takes more than one "Fix" to get them looking right but it makes a huge difference in the final result. Leaning horizons or walls are the very first thin I tend to notice in a photograph.

 

[Shipman]

I really appreciate the help, Im going to explore that a little more when I get home. I often come back with shots slightly angled from shoots where I dont use a tripod and I would love to get fixing it down to a science because I like being able to pick up the camera and go. A lot of good shots are ruined by bad angles and I dont want mine to be in that class. Again thank you for the info, it helps a lot.

 

[SCraig]

Oh, I come home with the same problems. Always have for some reason. It's easily fixed so it's normally one of the first things I look at in post.

 

[Shipman]

Thanks again man, I have a few pictures I want to look at fixing and see if I can get them perfect.