Is it me or not?

[Jack Dawe]

To take this shot I stood dead centre in the aisle. The east window is obviously not dead centre, but that's because the church is not dead straight (which isn't at all unusual), so I I'm not particularly worried about that. The screen is dead horizontal (thanks to Photoshop). So why, oh why, are the pews nearest the camera skew-whiff? I can't think of any reason why they should be. It ruins the shot. I have countless similar shots to this and it's really bugging me. Am I doing something wrong, or is it, as I suspect, that the glass in my lens misaligned?

 

[Anton Largiader]

I don't think you're in the middle of the aisle. Look at the gaps between the pews.

When the scene isn't really plumb, making the foreground right probably does more than making the background right. Get the obvious stuff straight, and let the rest take care of itself. I wouldn't notice if the far end of the room was a few degrees off.

 

[the durkarian]

That's because the top of the Rood Screen isn't level.

 

[Anton Largiader]

Good catch. You can see it where the screen meets the pillars. And being farther left in the aisle would bring the far window and ceiling features a bit closer to the centerline.

 

[Jack Dawe]

That's because the top of the Rood Screen isn't level.

View attachment 64481

Gosh, that just hadn't occurred to me! Thanks!

 

[MakisM1]

Add to all this that you are shooting at 18mm focal length... There is lens distortion, on top of perspective distortion. Bringing horizontal with Photoshop does not square the verticals as well as having the axis of the lens perfectly horizontal.

 

[Fogey]

Add to all this that you are shooting at 18mm focal length... There is lens distortion, on top of perspective distortion. Bringing horizontal with Photoshop does not square the verticals as well as having the axis of the lens perfectly horizontal.

A wide angle tilt and shift lens will take care of that.

 

[MakisM1]

A wide angle tilt and shift lens will take care of that.

Indeed, if you have one... Even used ones (old EF) are pretty pricey... Trust me, I checked...

 

[Fogey]

Indeed, if you have one... Even used ones (old EF) are pretty pricey... Trust me, I checked...

I was browsing through ebay looking for an electronic chess set, when I happened upon an unused Laowa 18mm macro lens for a first bid of £280. Research indicated that this lens could also be used as a wide angle lens with the tilt and shift feature, so I put in the bid.

Five days later, I received an email to say I'd won the auction as I was the only bidder - £280 vs £590 .............. so never say never.

 

[SkedAddled]

It's simply not leveled in view.

@the durkarian points it out, that it's not level.
I can't see other flaws, but I see it's not level.

 

[Anton Largiader]

Yes, but the real problem was that the construction is not plumb and square. Some of it can be corrected in post, but you can't turn a triangle into a rectangle and that is what you have going on with the top of the rood screen and the adjacent column caps. That scene will always be crooked somewhere.

 

[Mr Chodes]

It would be like trying to achieve straight lines in a Frank Gehry building photo.

 

[Jack Dawe]

Yes, but the real problem was that the construction is not plumb and square. Some of it can be corrected in post, but you can't turn a triangle into a rectangle and that is what you have going on with the top of the rood screen and the adjacent column caps. That scene will always be crooked somewhere.

That's exactly it. My problem was that I adjusted the photo in post by making the top of the rood screen horizontal, which was the wrong bit to choose because it isn't, as the dukarian clearly showed..