A Different View

[stuny]

We've all seen the classic shots of the Taj Mahal, but you can't really appreciate it until you go there - photography does not do it justice, and the details are wondrful. Here's one minor example of the "wonderful", and you can find more on the first page of India photos on our site.

[Alberto]

I like the composition, perspective, colors, Stuny, very good.

Alberto

[lambroving]

Stuart,

Really like the perspective but the distortion on the left won't go away. Did you have to tilt the camera much to get this? D2 I imagine? I'm not clever enough to know how to correct this in PS if that's possible, but it's a really interesting and unique shot otherwise...

[ddh]

William, I hope Stuart won't mind my tampering with his nice image.

All you have to do is create a layer from background.
Then use "Edit-Transform-Perspective" on the new layer.
Her is what you get.

Regards

[stuny]

Alberto - Thank you. I was entranced by the efrfect of the tiles on the scene.

Land Rover William - Thank you. Yes this was D2 (pre DMR). At its widest setting in vertical, the lens does significanty distort the edges. And I'm not clever enough with processing to solve this, either, though during a visit to a dear friend who is a Forum member in France, he showed me some amazing tools in CS2, which I couldn't bring myself to buy just yet.

Daniel - Thank you, and no I do not mind. You certainly have reduced the distortion, but a vestige still remains about 1/3 of the way in from the left, where the near and distant walls meet. I have no idea if current software can deal with that. BTW: To your knowledge, does PS Elements have the ability to do the modifications you describe?

[lesh]

Stu,

Believe that only CS2 (not Elements) has that functionality, pity it's so expensive. If you Google "CS2 Vanishing Point Tutorials" you'll find a number of video tutorials showing what can be done, and it is impressive

Les.

[lambroving]

Stuart,

Me neither and I don't want to go there. Since you have a DMR, you'll probably need CS2 eventally. I don't use a fraction of PSE2! I guess you'll have to bite the bullet...

My 28/2 never distorts; it just vignettes on rare occasions when I least expect it. Wouldn't hurt this shot though, provided I had been lucky enough to spot it! My Digilux 1 does the same thing, BTW.

[andybarton]

The lens correction function in CS2 is worth the entry fee all by itself.

How much were your lenses again?

CS2 is a small price to pay to overcome any of the lenses shortcomings, IMHO.

[lambroving]

Andy,

I'm interested in image quality, not post-processing. Within reason, if it ain't in the negative, I'm not interested.

Now..., WHY was it you bought a Leica? Think HARD about what you are suggesting.

BTW, considering how rarely I get to use my gear, Leicas have always been extremely reliable at catching what I wanted. THAT makes them worth every penny.

[jmr]

Guys,

image transformations are perfectly possible in PS Elements (or at least they are in version 3). If you get one of the readily available plug-ins you can even correct quite severe barrel or pincushion distortion - you'll probably never need to know, William

See my post of La Grande Arche http://www.leica-camera-user.com/arc...ighlight=arche for an example.

[stuny]

All - And that discussion is an excellent example of why I value the Forum so much. BTW: The plug-in that John Reynolds refers to in his link (I remember that strong architectural shot) is: Kekus Digital - Panorama Tools for OS X :: LensFix and Panorama Tools plug-ins

[imported_peter_m]

Stuart,

Nice shot, I love the perspective and the tile floor really makes the image for me.

I agree with Andy the lens correction filter in CS2 is super.

Peter

[stuny]

Thank you, Peter.