How to Keep Vertical Lines in Photographs Vertical: Number Six: Go for Dramatic Effect

Fayette County Courthouse, Fayetteville, Georgia.

 So far we've discussed five techniques for achieving correct perspective, with vertical lines vertical, in our photographs. Another technique, which I didn't mention before, is finding a higher elevation from which to shoot. I've gone to second (or higher) floors of buildings across the street from my subjects on occasion, when that possibility was available.

Sometimes however, we encounter situations where none of these techniques will work. What then? Well, if converging verticals are inevitable, we might as well make the most of it!

The Fayette County courthouse, built in 1824, is Georgia's fourth oldest. I could have, and actually did, make photographs of the building from several angles with correct perspective. But this picture was made purposely from this angle and with this framing for dramatic effect. I think the square format really works here. To me, this more effectively conveys the essence of the old structure than any of the "correct" views.

Tower Place, Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia

 

There was no possibility of making an architecturally correct photo of the tower in Tower Place in Buckhead -- there was no place I could go to get a "correct" perspective of the building. It was simply too tall. So I did the only thing I could do -- I moved in close with a wide-angle lens, tilted the camera, and went for the drama.

Interestingly enough, most of the architects to whom I've shown this picture have liked it. Enough so that I've kept it in my architectural portfolio for years.

About the photos:  The Fayette County courthouse was photographed with a Yashica 124 twin-lens reflex camera and Fujichrome 100 film in 120 size. The Tower was photographed with an Olympus OM camera and (probably) the 24mm f2.8 Zuiko  lens on Kodachrome 64 film.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography   architectural photography   film photography     Georgia     Fayette County courthouses     Tower Place, Buckhead     Yashica 124    twin-lens-reflex camera   Olympus OM camera     Zuiko 24mm f2.8 lens     Fujichrome 100 film     Kodachrome 64 film    

How to Keep Vertical Lines in Photographs Vertical: Number Five: Use a Shift Lens

What's wrong with this picture?

This is my neighbor's house. I'm using it as an example because my own house is only one story and I needed a taller one to illustrate my point.

The camera is on a tripod. The lens is a 35mm full-frame equivalent. The setup is perfectly level, with all the vertical lines vertical, but the highest part of the roof is cut off. I could have tilted the camera to include the roof, but then, the vertical lines would no longer be vertical. 

This photograph was taken at the same time and from the same position. Notice that all the vertical lines are still vertical, but now the entire roof is in the picture. What did I do? I used a shift lens, a very important tool for architectural photography.

During the years when I was doing a good bit of architectural photography I had a Canon TS-E 24mm shift lens, a very fine piece of equipment. However, I changed to Fuji cameras and lenses because they were smaller and lighter, and since Fuji did not offer shift lenses I bought a shift adapter to fit my cameras.

The photo above shows my Fuji X-T20 camera fitted with a shift adapter, which is the odd-looking bit of equipment between the camera and the lens.The lens, by the way, is an Olympus 24mm from my Olympus film camera set. On the adapter, it functions as a 35mm lens.

This photo shows the shift adapter at full rise, which is what enabled me to make the photo of my neighbor's house with all the roof included and all the vertical lines still vertical.

I photographed many old homes, churches, courthouses, and other historic buildings for my books by using the techniques previously discussed in this series and seldom needed to use a shift lens. But when you need one, you need one.

I miss my days doing architectural photography. Above is a picture of the Chattanooga Public Library that I did for the architects with my Canon shift lens.

Of course, the very best way to do architectural photography is with a view camera. But if you know how to use a view camera, you don't need any help from me! 

About the photos: The top two photos were made with a Fuji X-H1 camera with a Fotodiox shift adapter and an Olympus Zuiko 24mm f2.8 lens. The close-ups of the adapter were made with the Fuji X-H1 and a Fujicron 16-80mm f4 lens. The library was photographed with a Canon 5D Classic and the Canon TS-E 24mm f2.8 shift lens.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography   architectural photography    shift lenses    Canon EOS 5D Classic camera     Canon TS-E 24mm f2.8 shift lens     Fuji X-H1 camera     Fuji X-T20 camera     Fotodiox shift adapter     Fujicron 16-80mm f4 lens     Olympus Zuiko 24mm f2.8 lens

How to Keep Vertical Lines in Photographs Vertical: Number Four: Use a Longer Lens

The Rock City "Birdhouse" barn in its original location.

Another good technique for keeping the vertical lines vertical in your photographs is to back off and use a longer lens -- if you have room to do it. These aren't great examples of the technique, but are the best I could find without some deep digging in my files.

Above is the Rock City "birdhouse" barn in it's original location beside Interstate 75 in Dalton, Georgia. It was painted by Clark Byers, the original barn painter, and his son Freddie in 1967. In 2001/02 it was dismantled and put back together in a field at the foot of Lookout Mountain below Rock City. When all the other Rock City barns are gone, as they inevitably will be at some time in the future, people will still be able to see this one.

"Shotgun" houses on Georgia Highway 208 in Harris County.

This second example is from my limited edition book Georgia: A Backroads Portrait. They are called "shotgun" houses because the rooms are all in a row from front to back. Theoretically, one could fire a gun in the front door and the bullet would go straight through and out the back door with no obstruction. I found these three on an obscure road in west central Georgia while looking for "lost" Rock City barns. 

About the photos: Both were made with a Canon EOS A2 camera, probably with the Canon EF 28-105mm lens. The film, as usual, was Fujichrome 100.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    travel    Harris County, Georgia    shotgun house     Rock City    barns      film photography     Canon EOS A2 camera     Canon EF 28-105mm lens     Fujichrome film

The Photo-Fossil

 Musicians at the Cultural Village, Lusaka, Zambia.

Olympus OM2n, 100-300mm f4 Tokina lens, Fujichrome 100 film

(Click to enlarge)

Blog Note: As I said in my previous post, sometimes life gets in the way. Unfortunately, it's still in the way, so I'm re-posting a blog from about three years ago. I hope to get back on track soon and continue the series about perspective control.

I've been a photographer for nearly 56 years now. From 1968 to 2003 all my photographs were made on film, but in the summer of '03 I switched to digital photography. Not because I wanted to, but because it was necessary to remain competitive in my photography business. So -- 35 years with film, and 20 so far with digital, although I have exposed a few rolls of film in those years.

Several years ago I began a project to choose my 100 best photographs, with the idea that I would have them printed in a book by one of the online publishers. I haven't spent a lot of time on this, and it may turn out to be one of those projects that never get finished. I should probably pick several hundred and take the whole pile to my longtime friend, client, and ace graphic designer, Michael Largent, and let him pick.

In any case, at this point I'm only up to about 70 photos, and only seven of them were made with a digital camera. Two-thirds of my photographic life was spent working with film and only the last third working with digital. Twenty years worth of work, years when I'm supposedly a mature photographer, and yet the overwhelming majority of photos that I consider to be among my best were made on film.

"Why is that?" you might ask.

I can think of at least two reasons. One is that life brought me more interesting assignments in the days when I was shooting film. All my overseas documentary assignments and the Rock City Barns book were done on film. My limited edition book Georgia: A Backroads Portrait is a combination of film and digital photography.

The second reason is that digital can be just too easy. And that makes it too easy, for me, at least, to be careless or too easily satisfied when the little screen on the back of my camera tells me I have an okay shot. Maybe not great, but okay. Besides, "I can always fix it in Photoshop!"

In this digital era, cameras can select the proper exposure and focus themselves. All the photographer has to do is frame the shot and choose the instant to press the shutter button. And ways have now been invented to capture the proper instant even if the photographer misses it. The only skill left to the photographer is composition.

By the end of the film era, cameras were pretty good at choosing exposures, but smart photographers learned to fine-tune the settings. Autofocus was also in wide use. But photographers still had to master timing and composition. I believe film helped us be much more careful with focus, exposure, timing, and composition because there was always a little meter in the back of our heads, keeping a running account of costs. In short, I believe shooting film made me a better photographer.

Or maybe I'm just a photo-fossil.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    travel     film photography     Olympus OM2n camera    Tokina 100-300mm f4 lens Fujichrome 100 film    Zambia