Wide-Angle Weirdness

[Richard Lane]

Hey Canoli,


Nice job with the crop! You're certainly getting it! Now, the bridge anchors the photo better. Ok.., now to keep it real, I think you over did the color adjustment a little on the cropped photo. The water, clouds and some of the buildings now look too green to me.


It's probably an optical Illusion that is magnified as we get closer and you're probably staring at it more since it's more of a focal point.


Since you are enjoying this thread, one other pointer that I noticed, would be to lower your tripod slightly in order to create some space or air in between that Island and the lower span at the center of the bridge, the same concept applies for boats or buildings, that may be visible under a span or archway. Sometimes, it's not possible because you can't move a fixed object, or as you lower your tripod the wide angle lens will catch a piece of the railing that you're standing in front of, but I just figured it's something to look for.


Keep up the good work!


<span style="font-size: 11.6667px;"]Rich

[canoli]

Thanks Rich! I appreciate your help and your encouraging words.


I agree the color in the crop is worse now - went a little overboard on the Curves adjustment...


good suggestion about lowering the tripod. Unfortunately where I was (on the Manhattan Bridge) there's only 2 spots you can shoot at all. The rest of the walkway is bordered by a 6' wall - chain-link, steel, etc. Someone cut 2 holes in it, one at either end - presumably a photographer - so there are those 2 places - but that's basically it along the span...


What's funny about using a tripod on the Man. bridge (and all the NYC bridges) - you can use it until about 5:30am. After that the traffic gets so heavy that the bridge is constantly bumping up and down. I was surprised any of the shots were sharp after 5:30...


Thanks again!

[neuroanatomist]

I don't think I entirely agree with you on this one. Yes I believe the 17mm gives you a little bit of distortion, but not in the way you make it seem like.

Here's another example, lifted from Wikipedia's article on Perspective Distortion, this is 18mm on FF.





Obviously, the gondola in the foreground is the same physical size as the gondolas in the background. Yet, visually you could probably fit 10 of those little gondolas in the distance into the single one in front.

[Sheiky]

Yes I get what you mean John, the angle of view from the wide-angle vs the "normal"angle of view from a human being, right?(the 50mm on FF story)


At this time I'm not seeing it as unnatural or so called distorted, right away and I must say I'm not bothered by the image. However I was bothered by the initial posters image of the boat in the water. Perhaps distance and size matter more in that shot?


Hmm I really have to do this perspective distortion test don't I? If I have some more time this week, I'll go for it...


I'm probably talking about a whole different phenomenon when I mentioned the big moon-thingy so just leave that one [:P]

[Sheiky]

Oh never mind, I don't have to do the testing, I've just seen the best example of what I wanted to see(the bidons). However it is an extreme example at these close focus distances, I'm now seeing how it would affect at larger scales. But I still can't believe it's that bad [:P]

[neuroanatomist]

Yes I get what you mean John, the angle of view from the wide-angle vs the "normal"angle of view from a human being, right?(the 50mm on FF story)

That's my point exactly. But you're right that different elements in the image can either enhance or reduce the effect of perspective distortion. It's a good point - the position and angle of the boat in the original shot give it a lot of visual weight, adding to the distortion.

I'm probably talking about a whole different phenomenon when I mentioned the big moon-thingy so just leave that one

Well, sort of. The 'moon illusion' seems to be a complex and not completely understood phenomenon, but it's based mostly in perception rather than optics. Here's a scientific journal article on the topic, if you want to delve into it... [8-|]

[Sheiky]

I just read a couple of lines and it seems very interesting, however reading it all would take me some time. I'll read it later on.(It's comparable to reading some of Daniel Brownings, very interesting theories, to me...reading a paragraph like 4 times before I totally understand it all [:P])


Funny thing with taking pictures is that sometimes this moon or sun illusion is barely visible. For instance I made a time-lapse a few weeks ago of a sunset and in my eyes the sun was enormously, larger than I've ever seen it here. But in the photos it's just a small ball. I guess the 2D photo works against the illusion as well, it probably is explained in the article so I'll understand the idea of it later on []