Solutions to Perspective Distortion in Architectural Photographs

The equipment used in architectural photography is different from other photography, because architectural photography generally needs to correct the architectural distortion in the contrast film. When using a common camera for head-up shooting, although the original lines perpendicular to the ground can be kept vertical, the center of the image plane of the lens cannot move up and down like the horizon in the picture, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of shooting buildings, especially high-rise buildings with a common camera. Because of this, many photographers have to look up to get a panoramic view of the building, but the result of this kind of framing shooting will form the effect that the original lines perpendicular to the building floor converge upwards, forming a three-point perspective effect in painting, which is called "perspective distortion" in photography. This effect will give people a feeling of instability.

When shooting architecture, except for those works that deliberately use diagonal lines to express visual impact or pursue dramatic composition, in most cases, people are used to accepting the effect of one or two perspectives, that is, the building remains vertical in the photo. Because this is the most commonly used perspective for ordinary people to look at architecture and the world.

The perspective effect produced by backhand.

Common methods to control "perspective deformation" in buildings;

1. Use perspective to adjust the camera or lens.

Architectural photography mostly needs photographic equipment that can adjust the relationship. The preferred equipment for architectural photography is naturally a large-format camera (4×5 or 8× 10 inch), because the leather cavity of a large-format camera can be greatly adjusted, especially when shooting close-ups of tall buildings. Furthermore, a larger negative can better record the finer parts of the image, which is very important for the production of large-scale advertising pictures. However, the operation of large format camera is complicated, and it is cumbersome to move, adjust and replace the film, and it is inconvenient to carry and install. Therefore, some medium format cameras, including 35mm SLR cameras, can meet the basic requirements of architectural photography without any deliberate requirements on film size. Such as' medium format camera Lulai X-Act2, Hasselblad ArcBody, etc.

In addition, both the medium format SLR camera and the 35mm SLR camera have some shift lenses that can be used for architectural photography. Axis-shifting lens can move the center of the image plane of the lens up or down relative to the center of the focal plane on the premise of head-up, so that the top (ground shooting) or bottom (high shooting) of the building can be moved to the focal length range of the lens, while the vertical line remains vertical in the photo. The shift lenses of the medium format camera include Mamiya 75mmF4.5, Lulai 75mmF4.5, Hasselblad 1.4 magnification mirror, etc. When the 35mm camera is used for architectural photography, you can choose the shift-axis lenses of Nicol PC28mmF3.5 and 35mmF2.8 and the macro shift-axis lens of Nikon PC Micro85mm 1∶2.8. Canon's shift-axis lenses include TS-E24mmF3.5L, TS-E45mmF2.8 and TS-E90mmF2.8.

2. Keep the camera level. When the camera is horizontal, there will be no perspective distortion of the building in the picture. However, as the high-rise buildings in the city are built higher and higher, the relative distance between buildings is getting narrower and narrower, and the external environment of buildings is not ideal. It is technically quite difficult to shoot high-rise buildings on the ground only with ordinary cameras. To do this, you can change a lens with a wider angle of view. In the first imaging picture, the ground in front of the building is definitely too big, but you can cut off the extra ground and rearrange the position of the building in the picture. The price of this clipping is the loss of the effective area of the picture.

Shooting architectural effect at normal level

3. Raise the height of the shooting point. When shooting a high-rise building, the shooting point is selected on the roof of a nearby multi-storey building or the podium of a high-rise building, which can avoid the perspective distortion of the building being photographed in the picture. However, the shooting point should not be too high, so as not to shoot the bottom of the building when looking up, or to shoot down so that the straight line in the building that was originally perpendicular to the ground inclines downward and converges, resulting in reverse perspective distortion.

Take pictures of distant buildings on the roofs of nearby buildings.

4. Post-correction of perspective pictures by 4.Photoshop.