Correction of perspective

[pancho pistolas]

Any information on correcting the perspective on LF photography

[Bob Salomon]

Are you sure that you want to change perspective?

Perspective changes with camera position. It is changed by moving the entire camera up/down/left or right.

[Paul Schilliger]

Some basics at:

http://www.toyoview.com/LargeFrmtTech/lgformat.html

[Wayne_6692]

Bob - Why do you have to be so Pissy? It's obvious that the poster is asking about distortion caused by the film plane not being parallel to the plane of the subject - obvious to everyone but you. Seeing as how 99% of the community refers to this as a "perspective distortion" why not just try to be helpful for a change?

Regards, Wayne

[Bob Salomon]

"Any information on correcting the perspective on LF photography "

What's so obvious Wayne?

[Wayne_6692]

Yeah Bob you're right. I'm sure that he is unaware that a camera's position may be changed - great advice by the way. It's very unlikely that English is probably a second language for this person and he just left out the word "distortion". We all know that perspective is something that has to be "corrected".

[Bob Salomon]

I'm glad you are clairvoyant. You are sure that he id not asking about foreshortening, or some other "distortion" rather then the change in dbject shape?

Rather then waste your time why not let the poster state what he means rther then your assuming for him?

[John W.]

Oh foolish Wayne, you made the same mistake Nikon and Canon did when they named their so-called "PC" shift lenses. While they and about 100 percent of their buyers assumed "PC" meant "Perspective Correction," only 2 of us (Bob and me) knew they actually meant "Position changing." Rather than use the shift feature to "correct perspective," in other words, owners of these lenses are supposed to leave the lenses at the zero position and move the entire camera and tripod around to "correct perspective." We're glad you gave us this opportunity to clear the air!

.........

[Wayne_6692]

John - Thank you for giving me a new perspective on an old problem.

Wayne

[neil poulsen]

I would add to Bob Soloman's response, "forward or backward." I think that perspective is sometimes confused with camera manipulation, which isn't the same thing. (e.g. changing lenses versus changing the camera's location.) AA states in his book The Camera that, " . . . perspective is a function of camera-to-subject distance." He points out that changing lenses does not alter perspective.

Following Adam's lead, I prefer to think of perspective as the location of the camera, relative to the subject being photographed. While one can always argue over definitions, I find this particular definition useful. Among other things, it points out that perspective is more than just making a subject appear more or less distant in the viewfinder. While I think that composition consists of both camera manipulation and perspective, it's the latter that offers the more powerful tool for improving how a viewer can understand the image being photographed.

True in life as well as photography, it's interesting that even a small change in "perspective" can completely alter how one views an issue, or the subject in a photograph.