April 12, 2013

Spring Break—No. 2



Our hotel was a block east and two blocks south of the east side of the capitol.  So, each morning we passed the capitol on our way to other sites on the Mall.
I took this photo on one of those mornings.  The photo is of the east side of the capitol (which, although it faces away from the Mall, is the front of the capitol).  I wanted the photo to show the Capitol’s classical lines.  Some people will be bothered by the distortion of the building—especially the left side.  The distortion does bother me some but not enough to purchase a tilt-shift lens and then learn how to use it.  I think the tools in Lightroom 4 allow you to correction the distortion sufficient for my purposes.  I used these tools (plus cropping) in the second photo to minimize the effect.
Distort or not distort?  Which do you prefer?
Enjoy.


Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 at 32mm, ISO 100, f/11 at two 1/180th.
Post Processing:
Lightroom 4—applied Nikon Vivid preset during import, set white and black points and added vibrance and used lens correction and cropping to minimize distortion in second photo.


5 comments:

  1. I like the 2nd shot (corrected one) better because it seems to take my eye all the way into the photo, left to right. The 2nd version is what the eye would see if you were there.

    The other version makes me stop at the distorted view, before finally forcing myself to move through the rest of the photo. I do have to say that the perspective being off kilter doesn't bother me. I just view it differently.

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  2. I like the second version because of your perspective. The steps in the photo led your eyes up the steps so you expect the subject not to be distorted. This more than a grab shot. You carefully framed the photo.
    Allan

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  3. I generally like the second one better because it makes the dome appear larger within the frame. But, I like the sky in the first one; it sets off the building better. Thanks for presenting the two versions.
    Marlow

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  4. I would like to see a b&w version. Good photo.
    Ted

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  5. To be perfectly honest, I did not see the distortion until you showed the corrected photo. Makes me wonder what else I am not seeing.
    Marge

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