Bryant Park NYC

[GCertain]

any feedback????

[rbeckerelite]

Looking at from a technical point of view, a well executed image. There is a bit of "keystoning" that is visable because of the poles. The image is busy but in a fun way. You can almost hear the music from the merry go round.

I would have liked to see either more of the animal on the right or eliminate it all together.

This image really shows off the S2's ability to record colors and details.

Overall, nice effort.


Best regards,

Randy

[GCertain]

Thanks for the feedback I’m trying to develop a more discriminating eye for composition and you reply is a great help. I hadn’t notice the keystoning until you pointed it out. I would assume if I avoid framing vertical lines at the margins I can get around the keystoning problem or by using Photoshop.

[Tom V]

I agree with Randy.

I notice the distortion more than I notice the keystoning.

Simple keystoning (parallel lines that converge caused by perspective) can be avoided while shooting by keeping the camera level (no tipping up or down). The closer straight lines are to the edge of your image's frame, the more apparent keystoning and distortion are.

Just because lines are parallel in real life doesn't mean they HAVE to be recorded that way. Your mind expects photos of tall building to have convergence as the sides of the building lean together as the race to a vanishing point somewhere overhead. A shot of railroad tracks wouldn't look right if they vanished over the horizon as two parallel rails. Some perspective looks natural. It is when the perspective is ALMOST right when it looks the worst.

If your image has objectionable keystoning or perspective, it is easy to fix in Photoshop with the TRANSFORM controls in the EDIT menu.

Distortion is caused by the lens failing to get the image of a real 3-D world onto a flat 2-D sensor perfectly. Lines that should be straight bend and bow outward or inward depending on the lens design. In order to avoid distortion, a lens has to be more carefully designed, which involves money, exotic materials, and certain tradeoffs.

Any lens can have distortion. High-quality moderate focal length prime lenses would likely have the least, and cheaper lower-quality wide-angle mega-zooms would probably have the most. A zoom lens can go from barrel distortion (lines bow outward) to pincushion distortion (lines bend in) across the range of its zoom.

Distortion is virtually impossible to fix with Photoshop unless you have add-on software (a plug-in) designed to correct it.

One such plug-in is PanoTools. http://www.panoguide.com/software/reviews/panotools_v21.html

Beside correcting distortion, it can convert fisheye images to rectilinear and rectilinear to fisheye, stitch panoramas together in a multitude of shapes and spaces, correct for uncentered lens-to-film alignment, realign individual color channels to correct color fringing and aberation, and other esoteric functions. Best of all it is FREE. Worst of all, it is not the easiest thing to use. Once you get an image's distortion corrected, you can use the same settings to correct any image taken with that lens

How come all the merry-go-rounds I see go counter-clockwise? In the Walt Disney motion picture "Mary Poppins" the merry-go-round goes clockwise and it looks so wrong. Am I to believe that British merry-go-rounds go opposite of American merry-go-rounds because the British drive on the "wrong side" of the road?:confused:

[GCertain]

Thank you very much for your response. It was very helpful. I downloaded the PanoTools software and it seems like a great package. I also have no complaints about the price ...lol!

As you were able to identify I took this shoot with an inexpensive lense ... the salesman (@ broadwayphoto) told me it was a very good lense on sale for $200. I had done my homework on the camera and decided on the s2pro but didnt do my homework on the lense. It turned out the lense was available on the net for $60-$70 everywhere. I was able to make them take the lense back along with the imported s2pro camera and now I have invested in a much better lense (Nikon ED AF-S NIKKOR 28-70mm 1:2.8D) and US S2pro from B&H. I plan to go back and attempt the same shot with the new lense and the help of both Randy and Tom. Thanks again to you both. I will post the results soon.


Gary

[snapthepicture]

I like the image, keystone and all. Yeah there is the technical aspect of should I or shouldn't I, however this is what you shot and it's real. What I liked the most is the miror in the center. It's like a window, wanting to look beyond. I was looking for your reflection because you would think you would be visible. I also like the rear of the horse on the right, it completes the left horse. After spending 4 years in college doing everything technically right, I started loosing my art side. I then started painting, screenprinting and other mediums that I was innocient in, just to work from an asthetic view. Shoot from the innocence of a child, don't think too much about technical stuff. Get raw and immediate and create art. If art isn't what you are going for, then it's all good. Every shot is a learning experience. Even if it was a longer exposer with motion, it would have been enjoyable. Or what about a double exposure, one being like you have and the other later with the lights on and in motion. How about a "slow rear curtain sync"? It's all about the perception. Anyways, The above statements are good ones, just decide what is important to you to complete your statement.
Thanks for letting me share
Brunohttp://www.snapthepicture.com/composite.jpg SnapThePicture.com (http://www.snapthepicture.com)

[GCertain]

Sorry, It took me soo long to reply. I have been busy with work. Thanks for the positive feedback. If agree that sometimes some technical imperfections can make a photo more interesting. But I have learned from my art training(painting and drawing) that I should first know the technical rules before i start breaking them.