Perspective transformations in post production

[lookupbrightnow]

Just throwing this out to see what people's views are on this technique. I've been editing drone pics for a few years now, often photographing buildings. At first I had a tendency to adjust verticals when looking down on large areas of buildings from height, perhaps adjusting verticals in Lightroom transform approx +15 or so. I guess it depends on image but sometimes i cant decide what is more natural looking and now tend not to adjust much for verticals as the eye would also see the angled verticals when looking down ... any thoughts from others?

 

[SkyeHigh]

It’s very difficult to get a natural overhead shot with straight lines rising from the ground due to the distortion of wide-angle lenses. Same effect on overhead shots of a forest but without the straight lines.

As the sensor is parallel to the ground no lens would be perfect unlike a tilt/shift lens used at right angles to the ground where you can correct the vertical distortion in-camera.

You could try from a higher viewpoint to lessen the effect and then crop-in to the wanted area of the shot. Or if you have a multi-lens camera then avoid the widest angled lens.

Even using our own eyes looking down the effect is still noticeable.

 

[Vic Moss]

Depends on the end use of the pic, or personal preference. As an architectural photographer, I probably correct my verticals over 95% of the time. My clients don't build buildings that are falling over, so they don't want photos that look like they are. When you have a forced perspective of looking hard down on a building, it doesn't make sense to correct the verticals. Or if you're shooting for yourself, sometimes you want that look. And it depends on the subject. And it depends on how much you're looking down on the subject.

There is no right answer 100% of the time.

The Stanley shot below wouldn't look right without the corrections. But the apartment shot wouldn't look right completely corrected. Assuming I even could.