LocalHero1953 Posted April 3, 2018 Share #1 Posted April 3, 2018 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) I was asked by an elderly couple to take some family reunion shots. The room was not particularly big, and the group was large. I used two flashes shooting into brollies on either side. The layout meant that I was fairly close to the group and shooting at the wide end, 24mm. The first image is DNG imported into LR, with the Adobe Standard SL colour profile and Leica's embedded lens profile, and a small amount of sharpening as an import preset - otherwise this is SOOC with no other processing. My concern was with the 'fat face' syndrome of the woman seated on the left and the woman standing on the right. The second image is after using the 'Transform' module and guides to straighten it out, followed by cropping. The 'fat face' syndrome is reduced slightly but still there. I haven't had to deal with this sort of problem before (I'm an amateur, and only occasionally do group photos like this), but I was surprised that Leica's embedded profile could not correct this wide angle distortion effect. I tried manual distortion correction in the Lens Correction module, but that just distorted straight lines across the image. The third image is a result of some research, which led me to Photoshop's Adaptive Wide Angle filter. This is much more satisfactory. I wonder if this might find its way into LR's Transform module in due course. My questions are: - how have other people dealt with this problem of distortion of people at the edges of a wide angle shot? I know the correct answer is to stand further away, but that wasn't an option here. - is there any other software that can make corrections in the same way as Photoshop's Adaptive Wide Angle filter? Preferably software that can work correct the raw file for subsequent editing in Lightroom, rather than creating a TIFF or a Photoshop layer. - is it reasonable to expect Leica's embedded lens profile to correct the distortion better than this? Or is it an inherent problem of wide angle lenses? Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited April 3, 2018 by LocalHero1953 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/283342-the-24-90sl-distortion-in-camera-corrections-and-pp/?do=findComment&comment=3493377'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 3, 2018 Posted April 3, 2018 Hi LocalHero1953, Take a look here The 24-90SL, distortion, in-camera corrections and PP. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
ramarren Posted April 3, 2018 Share #2 Posted April 3, 2018 IMO, there aren't any good ways to deal with this other than what you've done so far. As a rule, I never shoot group photos with a wide angle lens in a tight space... Wide angle distortion like this is a function of the geometry of the situation, not a lens defect. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geetee1972 Posted April 3, 2018 Share #3 Posted April 3, 2018 (edited) I'd say that by far the bigger problem are the sour faced expressions of the woman on the right, the woman on the left of her with the hair piece and the bloke on the back row far left! Oh my word what is going on with them, did they have a major family bust up or something?It would be fun, but entirely innapropriate, to start concocting a fabulously fabricated story to explain the expressions of these three individuals! Edited April 3, 2018 by geetee1972 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share #4 Posted April 3, 2018 I'd say that by far the bigger problem are the sour faced expressions of the woman on the right, the woman on the left of her with the hair piece and the bloke on the back row far left! Oh my word what is going on with them, did they have a major family bust up or something?It would be fun, but entirely innapropriate, to start concocting a fabulously fabricated story to explain the expressions of these three individuals! Well, yes! I wish could show you the whole set of 40-50 shots of different groups. I think the woman on the back right and the woman in the headdress are sisters or cousins, probably teenage (despite the look), who had both dressed in 40s style for the occasion; they deliberately put on the sultry faces for the photographer - I did get one when they just giggled. The bloke back left was in fact normal; the one between the two sisters/cousins was the oddity: I took a seated portrait of he and his wife (middle row, third from the right) and couldn't get them to smile or face inwards for the shot even slightly. The boy poking his head through at the back was rigid in a three-piece suit. Then there was the group shot with four dogs added........................... And, yes, my wife (who wasn't there) and I spent an hour last night making guesses about these characters. As an aside, I am grateful to all those who have not told me off for leaving the door open (back right) - I did notice after a couple of shots, honest! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geetee1972 Posted April 3, 2018 Share #5 Posted April 3, 2018 who had both dressed in 40s style for the occasion LOL OK well the woman in the black dress/head gear may well look like she was from the 40s but the other one looks like she dressed for a part as an extra in Sergei Esenstein film! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted April 3, 2018 Share #6 Posted April 3, 2018 You have a lot of 'blinkers' too. Difficult to get everyone to refrain from blinking especially where flash is used, I know. You could try this technique.......... http://www.asiaone.com/world/photoshop-fail-family-given-hilarious-creepy-faces-professional-photographer 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share #7 Posted April 3, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) My technique was to take half a dozen of each group and hope that one of them had no blinkers - it worked, mostly! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share #8 Posted April 3, 2018 (edited) You have a lot of 'blinkers' too. Difficult to get everyone to refrain from blinking especially where flash is used, I know. You could try this technique.......... http://www.asiaone.com/world/photoshop-fail-family-given-hilarious-creepy-faces-professional-photographer Agreed, though I wasn't using TTL flash with pre-flash. Plan A was to use the garden and natural light, but it was raining. Edited April 3, 2018 by LocalHero1953 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted April 3, 2018 Share #9 Posted April 3, 2018 You can only work with what you have - I remember a wedding I shot some time ago, an odd affair! I struggled to get any kind of smile from bride or groom and it was also a bad day weather wise and the reception was in their small back garden which was mostly full up with a marquee (more like a large tent). Most of the guests wanted to avoid having photos taken too! I somehow managed to fill an album though and they paid in full so must have been happy enough! At least everyone can clearly be seen so as a record of the gathering your photo is fine. I doubt the client would even notice the distortion you've pointed out. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 3, 2018 Share #10 Posted April 3, 2018 Actually Photoshop has a very nice face correction facility nowadays. I can make any sourpuss look like the Joker in Batman As to the distortion, this is not linear/pincushion distortion, but three-dimensional. Correction is really difficult but using the liquidize tool judiciously can work - a lot of computer time, though. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsprow Posted April 3, 2018 Share #11 Posted April 3, 2018 I've had trouble with photos like this also and generally turn down the opportunity to photograph large groups together. I'd say facial distortion is the least issue. Families are difficult to represent "fairly". I would suggest that the happy gentleman in the center consider trousers a bit longer! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
helged Posted April 3, 2018 Share #12 Posted April 3, 2018 (edited) Lots of humour here - hopefully somewhat hidden for (most of) the family ensemble... Edited April 3, 2018 by helged Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share #13 Posted April 3, 2018 Lots of humour here - hopefully somewhat hidden for (most of) the family ensemble... Let's hope so ! And it would be a strange (and boring) family that couldn't produce a similar cross-generational group without such characters, and stories to tell. The only unusual thing to me was the absence of an even younger generation, and the presence of four dogs. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Albertson Posted April 4, 2018 Share #14 Posted April 4, 2018 Did you call up the SL display with the artificial horizon when you framed the shot? I shoot both a 21 and a 24 with mine, and making sure everything is in the green (including the tiny bit in the middle that tells you if the camera is tilted up or down) saves a lot of shots from looking distorted. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_W Posted April 4, 2018 Share #15 Posted April 4, 2018 The elderly gentleman with the green cardigan and too-short trousers also has very long feet, a side effect of you pointing the lens upwards slightly. If you had framed it a bit better this could be avoided. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 4, 2018 Share #16 Posted April 4, 2018 The elderly gentleman with the green cardigan and too-short trousers also has very long feet, a side effect of you pointing the lens upwards slightly. If you had framed it a bit better this could be avoided. It wouldn't have cured the gap. The photographer should have provided longer socks. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share #17 Posted April 4, 2018 Did you call up the SL display with the artificial horizon when you framed the shot? I shoot both a 21 and a 24 with mine, and making sure everything is in the green (including the tiny bit in the middle that tells you if the camera is tilted up or down) saves a lot of shots from looking distorted. Not in this shot (obviously). In later shots I did. That wouldn't have avoided the distortion at the sides. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatkob Posted April 4, 2018 Share #18 Posted April 4, 2018 - is it reasonable to expect Leica's embedded lens profile to correct the distortion better than this? Or is it an inherent problem of wide angle lenses? Try the Correct Volume Deformation feature of DxO Viewpoint software. Lense profiles only make the problem worse, not better. That's why embedded lens profiles should always be optional. To make the "fat face" syndrome go away, you actually need to increase the distortion, not decrease it. This will fix the faces, but make straight lines in the room appear curved, thus trading one problem for another. But in a portrait it is best to prefer the faces to the lines in the room. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD_50 Posted April 4, 2018 Share #19 Posted April 4, 2018 Embedded lens profiles are not designed to fix perspective distortion. Your best bet would be to use the right lens and setup to avoid any unwanted distortion. In this case with limited space you could do a background photo without the people and a photo with the people. Distort the people image to satisfaction and separately distort the background image to satisfaction and see if you can then blend the two to your liking. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanhulsenbeek Posted April 7, 2018 Share #20 Posted April 7, 2018 DXO Viewpoint 3 (just Google) has dome usefull corrections. You can try it for free. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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