Before and after images with perspective control software

I thought some readers make like to see a few before and after images that were adjusted with perspective control software.

What follows is a small selection of images from my shipping container home article. The first image in each pair is an out-of-camera jpeg, then followed by the image as it appeared in the article.

NOTE: Click to enlarge images.

Original out-of-camera jpeg
Original out-of-camera jpeg
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO-160
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO-160

You can see with the above image that after I adjusted some angles I also cropped the image a bit tighter.

Original jpeg
Original out-of-camera jpeg
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-320
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-320

The perspective control didn’t eliminate the blue entrance wall to the study so I cropped the image a bit tighter and also adjusted the white balance.

Original out-of-camera jpeg
Original out-of-camera jpeg
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-900
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-900

Adjusting the perspective in this photo ended up automatically cropping some of the distracting details at the top of the image. I tightened it up further to focus the viewer’s eye.

Original out-of-camera jpeg
Original out-of-camera jpeg
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-400
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-400

The angles in this image weren’t too bad, but making a slight adjustment makes it look a lot more natural. I purposely obscured the face of an individual in the image.

Original out-of-camera jpeg
Original out-of-camera jpeg
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-400
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-400

In the out-of-camera jpeg the photo almost looks like it is leaning forward. A slight change to the perspective makes it look more balanced and natural.

Original out-of-camera jpeg
Original out-of-camera jpeg
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-1400
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-1400

When you are planning to use perspective control software with your images it is always advisable to anticipate how the image may be cropped due to the change in perspective. You can see how some additional room was left at the bottom and right side of the original image in the pair above.

As a person becomes more familiar working with perspective control software it becomes much easier to frame your images differently to better anticipate cropping effects.

Original out-of-camera jpeg
Original out-of-camera jpeg
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-160
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-160

You can see how the tight space created a range of unusual angles in the above photograph. In these situations you often have to choose which perspectives to change knowing that some angles still may not be square. With the image above I chose to make the sides of the end wall perpendicular.

Original out-of-camera jpeg
Original out-of-camera jpeg
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-320
Nikon 1 V2 + 1 Nikon 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 6.7mm, efov 18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO-320

The angles were quite severe in the original photograph and made everything look very distorted. In this instance I choose to make the stripe on the wallpaper on the left-hand side of the room and the door frame perpendicular. This gave the entire image a much more natural appearance.

Changing the perspectives in an image can dramatically improve its visual appeal and can be beneficial to use with architectural subjects as well as with landscape, and street photography.

My intent is to keep this photography blog advertising free. If you enjoyed this article and/or my website and would like to make a modest $10 donation through PayPal to support my work it would be most appreciated. You can use the Donate button below. Larger donations can be made to tom@tomstirr.com through PayPal.

Article and all images Copyright Thomas Stirr. All rights reserved. No use, duplication of any kind, or adaptation is allowed without written consent.

6 thoughts on “Before and after images with perspective control software”

  1. Sit Thom,

    I really enjoy your writing and use of the Nikon CX cameras. I have purchased a V1 for my daughter and friend. And I have amazed myself when I have used them…

    You produced some excellent shots with that dimunitive zoom!

    Also from South Africa, but I have not yet met Ben!

    Best – Leo Theron

    Lightroom do have excellent perspective control abilities…

    1. Hi Leo,
      It sounds like you and your daughter are having fun with your Nikon 1 gear…great to hear! I’m not a Lightroom user but if you are having good results with it and the perspective control it offers then stick with it!
      Tom

  2. Question:
    Your normal workflow is DxO, export as DNG, and then the next program. In cases of using Viewpoint (VP), do you use VP within DxO, or DxO, export, then work in VP, then next program?

    WEJ

    1. Hi WEJ,

      The Viewpoint function that is embedded in OpticsPro 10 works very well for most perspective adjustments and I used that function to adjust all of the images with the shipping container home article. As a self-standing piece of software Viewpoint 2 can be used to open up jpegs without any problem. It likely works for tiff’s as well, although I have never tried it in that manner. Sometimes if I have quite complex perspective issues with an image I’ll finish a file through my usual processing, then use ViewPoint to make adjustments. I think for most people the perspective adjustment function embedded in OpticsPro will be sufficient for their needs. Folks who use Lightroom or similar program would need to purchase Viewpoint separately.

      Tom

  3. Hi Thomas, thanks for the very interesting article.
    I have never heard about the “Perspective control” software.
    Please enlighten me.
    Thank you from South Africa for all your excellent articles

    1. Thanks for your positive comment Ben – I’m glad you found the article interesting!

      With perspective control software a photographer is able to change various angles in an image, usually to reduce the distorting effects of using wide angle lenses. I use DxO Viewpoint 2 as I find it very quick and easy to make adjustments to my images. A lot of photographic software has a similar type of function. Here is a link to an article I wrote about how to make simple adjustments using DxO Viewpoint 2: https://smallsensorphotography.com/how-to-make-simple-perspective-adjustments-using-dxo-viewpoint-2

      Tom

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