DSLR Photography Forum

An old church on the town square. The top photo is a copy of the original, uncorrected for perspective and not cropped. The bottom is the same photo, with corrections done in PTLens and cropped. Shot with Sigma 10 - 20 mm. I'm curious to hear what others think of applying the corrections. All comments and critiques are welcome.

I think a little bit of perspective is acceptable for reality. I also think the sky has come out worse for wear, with a bomb-burst effect. You would very very rarely get the clouds going different directions, in such a small area of sky. And a little straightening clockwise.
The exposure and almost sepia tones look good.

Thanks NT. However, I'm not sure that I agree with you about the sky. If you compare the sky around the top of the church, in the top and bottom images, it is much the same. The "bomb-burst", as you call it, is there in both (I think). (In fact, the artillery was quiet that day)
Cheers, Gary

Hello Gary,
I will not give this one extensive review. To me, this is a holiday snap and we all have tons of them to remind us of our trips. There are some things you do not have a control over. The flat lighting is one of them. The photo provides accurate rendition of the building, but it feels like on an overcast day with little highlight or shadow. Other things you do have a control over. Filling a frame with a building deprives the photo of a context. Add to it the symetry of the photo, no foreground or background and the photo looks remarkably like a 2-D paper photo of a church held up against a sky.

You did have some options. There is a person sitting at the gates and more people at the entrance to the church. I think that that would have made an interesting and possibly more engaging photo. Give a photo idea you wished to take, I would go to the ground and take photos of cobblestones leading up to the church.

Well, you have something to work with. Don't get mad at me. Get even and next time, write me a blunt critique too. your friend Pavel

I think the perspective correction came out very well. I would have liked to see that correction without the crop for a little more foreground. I think this was what Pavel was alluding to.

Regards.....Dennis

Thanks Dennis, I agree. The perspective did come out great, but it may have caused a significant crop. P

The sky 'bomb-burst effect' I would suggest is caused in part by the wideangle lens and the angle of the shot.
i.e. If I lie on my back and point the camera upwards, the sky forms a circle.
If I take a shot horizontally the sky goes away to the diminishing point.
Halfway between these two the sky would form a halfcircle and below an opposite half circle.
So if you alter the perspective of the building (lower half of photo) (by dragging the top corners out, you are adding to the zoom effect of the sky (upper half of photo), and not decreasing it.

The effect you have attained would be perfect for a statue of liberty type shot. IMHO