Playing with perspective

For a while I've been meaning to do a vid tut on straightening perspectives. I set out with the intention of getting a shot I could use for it...

Ah those best intentions...

I know you all like me to keep my vid tuts as simple to follow as possible, so I was after a clean shot with rather strong perspectives that could be put right with a couple of adjustments. As I found out later, to make this possible in future I'll really need to use a tripod and spirit level to get the shot perfectly horizontal.

Or I might cheat! More on that later...

Anyway, when I got the shots into the digital darkroom (and spent ages straightening the perspectives to boot!) I found that I'd naturally taken a couple of my signature shots.

Bell Tower Nappy

Pardon the title - but that's basically what it is. The scaffolding structure is to prevent debris falling on the heads of folk or their cars as they come and go from the visitors car park, on the other side of the tunnel. It's just an extra precaution as they work on the refurbishment.

So, what attracted me to this viewpoint and shot? On top of all those lovely shapes, patterns and textures in the stone, I really liked the almost complete darkness of the tunnel and the way it framed the wall on the other side of the courtyard beyond. Although it's a shame I wasn't observant enough to wait another 7 minutes :)

Overhead Protection

Here's a close up of the nappy. I liked the interaction of the triangular forms created by the deep perspective, also the lighting coming through on the underside of the boards and, finally, the wonderful contrasting textures of the stone and wood. In the digital darkroom, my processing was all about enhancing those features.

Thanks for sharing your time with me and my monochrome struggles! I hope you've enjoyed looking :)


Oh, about that cheating I mentioned. I think I might take the top shot and apply a couple of perspective adjustments. If I make the resulting shot the one that I start with in the vid tut, well I'll then know it only takes a couple of moves to correct. That way, I'll be able to keep the viewer's concentration on the technique itself and not have them distracted by too many of my clumsy attempts to get it right!


comments / critique / feedback / tweets / buzzes always welcome :)