Why Do Buildings Look Funny in My Photos?

Why do buildings seem to lean away from your camera when you take pictures of them? Or, if you're standing at one of the corners, why does the building seem to be crooked in any pictures taken from that angle?

We know that building walls go straight up and down. They are parallel to each other and at a right angle to the ground. But, when we take pictures of them, the walls in the pictures don't look that way.

Well, there is an explanation. In this article, I'll do my best to break the technical reasons down into something even I can understand. After that, I'll tell you what you can do to correct it. One of the problems is that you can't see the "crooked" walls in your camera's viewfinder. It doesn't show up the same way as it will in the picture.

Here's what happens. In the back of your camera, there is a flat surface where the light coming in through the lens is focused. In a film camera, the film is held flat right there. In a digital camera, that flat surface holds thousands of tiny sensors that capture the colors and shades of light. If this flat surface is parallel to the walls on the building, there won't be any problem. The light is hitting the flat surface straight on.

However, if you tilt the camera upward to get the whole building in the picture, those two surfaces are no longer parallel. The light is hitting that flat surface at an angle. One side of the flat surface is closer to the building than the other. If you were to print a photo from that shot and lay a grid over it, the straight lines on the grid will show clearly that the walls on the building are distorted in the photo.

The sides of the wall will get closer to each other as you move up the photo. It will look like the building is leaning away from you. The more the camera is tilted upward, the worse this distortion will be.

You can get a similar effect if you're standing near one end of a long building. If you take a picture of the front of that building from that position, the other end will look very small and far away in the photo. Again, the issue is the same; the camera isn't parallel to the face of the building. In this case, the "tilt" of the camera isn't up and down, it's left and right.

So, how do you correct that? The first thing is to be aware that this problem exists. Be aware that, if you want to take a picture of a tall building, tilting the camera upward will cause the building to be distorted in the photo.

One thing you can do is get farther away from the building so that the camera is tilted the least amount possible. It does make it more difficult to isolate that building from all the stuff around it but, at least, the building won't be as distorted.

Another possibility is to go to another building nearby and go up to a level that's about half as high as the building you want to get into a photo. At that point, the camera won't be tilted. The light will hit that flat plate in the camera straight on and eliminate the distortion. I realize that it may not be possible to find such a position in a nearby building. However, if it is possible, it will solve the problem.

Another solution is to use a telephoto lens to focus in on interesting parts of the building. Even at an angle, the distortion will be much less noticeable.

Not only that, you'll most likely have much more interesting pictures than a shot of the whole building would be.

Isn't that what we want, after all?

Ed Hill's first camera was a German Voitlander he bought while stationed with the U.S. Army in Germany about 45 years ago. Many cameras and thousands of photos later, Ed still loves photography, especially travel photography. He talks about it on his blog at http://www.EnjoyTravelPhotography.com

Body Health Tips
Elmo Lives
Camera Shop