Upright!

before and after madero

Before and after using Lightroom 5 upright

I am using the new version of Lightroom and have been trying the updated features. This is an example of the “upright” correction system. It still has some problems with alignment in this wide angle view, but because I worked on it before I had Lightroom 5, I can tell you this is a reasonable compromise.

The photo was shot handheld, natural light, zoomed out to 18mm, at ISO 1600 with antishake on. The backward lean on the left edge is caused by the difference in subject distances in the photo. The building on the left side of the photo is much closer than the cathedral on the right. Even so, without the comparison and a little careful cropping, the corrected version is actually very close to what I did manually before I used Lightroom 5.

I did a thought experiment for what it would take to take this photo with a view camera:

  • A good sturdy, wide tripod
  • A field view like the Linhoff I still own
  • 4X5 color sheet film (very dear these days)
  • A well corrected wide angle lens with a low f-stop (expensive and rare)
  • A loop for magnifying the ground glass
  • A lens hood to keep extraneous reflections off the lens
  • Two assistants to keep pedestrians off my back while I get the inclination of the back and lens correct.

Unfortunately though, even with some gentle push processing in the lab (more costs), the results would be better corrected (probably) but overall hard to match and the cost? Ugh. I shutter to think (pun intended).