How Wide Without Distortion?

Higgs Boson wrote in post #12672241
The arms were equidistant from the camera. One was closer to the side of the frame though....

So the question becomes then not what FL, but HOW do most of you successfully acheive a wide environmental portrait? I want the owner to be close enough to the camera to be recognizable but still show his business (which is consumes a fairly wide space).....I'd like to get his whole body, not just a headshot....

Where are you shooting, one method is to have him stand a bit farther from whatever you have behind him and let a bit longer lens compress the space between he and the background but letting field of view do its thing. If space doesnt allow then you might have him stand farther from the lens, but more the the center which will minimize the distortion on him.

gonzogolf wrote in post #12672300
Where are you shooting, one method is to have him stand a bit farther from whatever you have behind him and let a bit longer lens compress the space between he and the background but letting field of view do its thing. If space doesnt allow then you might have him stand farther from the lens, but more the the center which will minimize the distortion on him.

exactly as my edit suggests, i'm too slow!! thanks for the advice!

and by the way, using a longer FL but standing with more distance between the two subjects seems sort of related to the original question of what focal length is not distorted, which seems to be half the answer, FL, but the other half is the distances.

Is it safe to say that as you move away from 50mm(FF) perspective distortion increases depending on subject matter distances, which is to say that 50mm is most closely related to what we see while not looking through a lens?

Higgs Boson wrote in post #12672241
The arms were equidistant from the camera. One was closer to the side of the frame though....

So the question becomes then not what FL, but HOW do most of you successfully acheive a wide environmental portrait? I want the owner to be close enough to the camera to be recognizable but still show his business (which is consumes a fairly wide space).....I'd like to get his whole body, not just a headshot....

there are a few ways to make the subject stand out
composition, subjects placed at the "rule of thrids" spots will stand out.
selective focus, using narrow depth of field to control where you want the attention to be directed.
using light, light your subject in a way that they stand out.
leading lines, use linear lines to lead into the subject that's your focus.

take a look here at this link, and try to figure out what made the subjects stand out. it's usually a combination of the above.
http://1x.com/photos/d​ocumentary

banpreso wrote in post #12672321
there are a few ways to make the subject stand out
composition, subjects placed at the "rule of thrids" spots will stand out.
selective focus, using narrow depth of field to control where you want the attention to be directed.
using light, light your subject in a way that they stand out.
leading lines, use linear lines to lead into the subject that's your focus.

take a look here at this link, and try to figure out what made the subjects stand out. it's usually a combination of the above.
http://1x.com/photos/d​ocumentary

thanks for this as well. using a flash is a great idea, but I do want everything in focus in this case.

i will check your link and think about leading lines as well. thanks again.

This is one of those times where posing is important. If he stands square to the camera, any distortion you get may be acceptable, but turn him sideways or at particular angles then the distortion is more obvious. I did an informal wedding shot one time where I composed something akin to what you want, only differing background, and the initial shots were fine. But a couple of other people jumped into the shot and with rain imminent, I continued to shoot, and got some unwelcome distortion. I can post an example if you want.

gonzogolf wrote in post #12672352
This is one of those times where posing is important. If he stands square to the camera, any distortion you get may be acceptable, but turn him sideways or at particular angles then the distortion is more obvious. I did an informal wedding shot one time where I composed something akin to what you want, only differing background, and the initial shots were fine. But a couple of other people jumped into the shot and with rain imminent, I continued to shoot, and got some unwelcome distortion. I can post an example if you want.

if YOU want. I love looking at pics and learning stuff.

pulsar123 wrote in post #12672285
??? This doesn't make sense. Take two cameras: one FF with 50mm, the other one crop with 30mm, and make one shot with each from the same location, of the same subject. Once you print both on the same size photo paper, will they look different (in terms of perspective and angle of view)? No.

YES THEY WILL LOOK DIFFERENT! the subjects on the background will be smaller on the 30mm crop shot compared to the 50mm full frame shot.

this is how crop sensor works. if you put 50mm on both crop and full frame, take a shot at the same subject from the same distance, now you take the image from the full frame shot, crop away the edges and leaving only the middle, you get the same picture as the crop sensor shot.

Higgs Boson wrote in post #12672241
The arms were equidistant from the camera. One was closer to the side of the frame though....

i find that the edges of a wide angle lens shows a lot more distortion. if you avoid the exteme edges it shouldn't be too obvious.

banpreso wrote in post #12672373
i find that the edges of a wide angle lens shows a lot more distortion. if you avoid the exteme edges it shouldn't be too obvious.

I guess I could move him more to the center but then poof, rule of thirds is gone and my pic sucks! then i can crop the edges and i don't even need to use a wide angle anymore. or maybe get closer to the background, use fully wide setting, and crop out the distorted excess.... i'll just have to experiement.

OP, can we see the photo in question?

banpreso wrote in post #12672185
both crop and ff have the same perspective (or perspective distortion) given the same focal length. crop sensor just gives a cropped image of a full frame sensor, it does nothing to change the perspective. 50mm on full frame and 30mm on crop gives the same angle of view (field of view), but different perspective.

Somehow you've been steered well away from the truth regarding perspective and focal length. If you'd read the perspective "sticky" I think you'd come away with a different way of thinking about the subject.

Here's a good run-down of the different types, and a tool which can help to correct for them

http://www.dxo.com …tics_geometry_c​orrections

If you want to learn all about it, here is the best book I ever saw on the subject:

http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1304687​196&sr=1-3

SkipD wrote in post #12672419
Somehow you've been steered well away from the truth regarding perspective and focal length. If you'd read the perspective "sticky" I think you'd come away with a different way of thinking about the subject.

ahh yes, confused with foot zooming

runninmann wrote in post #12672415
OP, can we see the photo in question?

i can post it later, i dont have it now.

Okay here is the first shot, a little disortion perhaps but the purpose was to show the couple in a favorite spot with she dramatic sky.