bench.

I can't figure out why i hate this picture. Any thoughts?

it seems tilted.,,..like the building is tilted...

Yeah it seems you straightened the horizon from the bench horizontal rather than the building vertical.

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The converging verticals are the direct result of not holding the camera perfectly level. Tilting the camera up makes them converge upwards and vice versa.

If you want to fix it, PSCS has a feature in the crop tool that will correct the perspective.

Another simple way to improve such a scene in the future is to include a person or people that create a message or story (not an easy task).

Robert_Lay wrote in post #5449204
The converging verticals are the direct result of not holding the camera perfectly level. Tilting the camera up makes them converge upwards and vice versa.

If you want to fix it, PSCS has a feature in the crop tool that will correct the perspective.

Another simple way to improve such a scene in the future is to include a person or people that create a message or story (not an easy task).

Are these verticals converging or is the horizon skewed? I would have no problem with the converging verticals response if this was the far left side of the photo, and there was a similar slant to the left on the right hand side of the photo. For all I know this is the entire photo and all verticals lean to the right, which suggests a skewed horizon.

I do agree that pointing the camera up would compound the problem though.

Am I wrong?

It's such a close call, just looking at the verticals - and no actual horizon is in sight.

However, look at the aspect ratio of the picture - exactly 3:2. That tells me that it probably has not been cropped. Assuming that is the case, what are the chances that you would stand at street level with the camera level and end up with a 30 ft. elevation in the picture. I would say, not a chance. You would have a lot more foreground and a lot less elevation.

LeuceDeuce wrote in post #5447886
Yeah it seems you straightened the horizon from the bench horizontal rather than the building vertical.

Very good eye! If there is a vertical line that is very nearly centered left to right, then it will not be significantly affected by up or down camera tilt.

Coincidentally, earlier today, our local camera store had a tip in their monthly newsletter on how to straighten an image. Their tutorial said to find a horizontal reference line. I sent them a reply that there are very few guaranteed horizontal lines to be found (the horizon when shooting the ocean is one). Vertical references that can be trusted are much more abundant.

Robert_Lay wrote in post #5450395
It's such a close call, just looking at the verticals - and no actual horizon is in sight.

However, look at the aspect ratio of the picture - exactly 3:2. That tells me that it probably has not been cropped. Assuming that is the case, what are the chances that you would stand at street level with the camera level and end up with a 30 ft. elevation in the picture. I would say, not a chance. You would have a lot more foreground and a lot less elevation.

I absolutely agree with you, there is definately some keystoning in the image. On that point we agree. We also agree that the camera has to be pointing up since at 55mm you would definately get more foreground if it wasn't.

That being said, the verticals on the right hand side of the image would lean to the left when the camera points up; yet these lean to the right. The effects of keystoning are minimized the closer to the center of the image you get, but again I'm not sure what the original crop looked like so I wouldn't bet the farm that this is uncropped.

Well, the OP could step in here and clarify that, but then again, he may tired of this whole issue days ago

To be honest with you, i find it interesting that one of the worst pictures i have posted in weeks gets more attention than others. Either way the photo is completely uncropped. This is it shot from a slightly different angle (it's tilted as well).

That's interesting in that in the later shot you were closer to the bench and the perspective was one of looking slightly down to the bench seat.

Glad the original post was not cropped.

Perhaps the reason you don't like it is because your intent was to take a picture of a bench. But your main subject is the tree or the building. Without looking at the title, that's what I would have thought. I don't like shots where the main subject is at the bottom. My eye is not drawn down there. I have a shot of a dove that is just like this. I have to make it a point to actually look at the dive rather than the rest of the picture.

Stefan