The Eiffel tower isn't square

[SwissJon]

Is it just my imagination or is the Eiffel tower slightly skew? I took this photo from the dead centre (there's a drain cover with a cross on it marking the middle) so that's where I placed the camera and pointed it upward. To me, this photo looks slightly skew.. I had to fiddle with distortions in the lens corrections in Lightroom, maybe that's why it looks off?

Anyhow. In addition to that, I cropped this a little to make it really abstract, I'm wondering if it works as a piece of art, as I'm pretty sure nobody who hasn't stood below the tower in that spot will recognise it from this shot?

How am I doing with the exposure? I had to bump up the fill light to compensate for underexposing the shot because I didn't want to blow the highlights.



Camera Sony SLT-A55V
Exposure 2.5
Aperture f/9.0
Focal Length 11 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
Image Description Night view of the Eiffel tower from the very centre looking straight up
X-Resolution 240 dpi
Y-Resolution 240 dpi
Software SLT-A55V v1.10
Date and Time (Modified) 2011:03:20 23:15:37
Copyright Jon Pertwee 2011
Exposure Program Manual
Date and Time (Original) 2011:03:09 21:14:22+01:00
Date and Time (Digitized) 2011:03:09 21:14:22
Brightness Value -1.75
Max Aperture Value 2.8
Metering Mode Center-weighted average
Light Source Unknown
Custom Rendered Normal
Exposure Mode Manual
White Balance Auto
Focal Length In35mm Format 16 mm
Scene Capture Type Standard
Contrast Normal
Saturation Normal
Sharpness Normal
Compression JPEG (old-style)
Copyright Flag True
Object Name Eiffel Tower Looking up from the centre
Keywords Paris
By-line Jon Pertwee
Copyright Notice Jon Pertwee 2011
Caption- Abstract Night view of the Eiffel tower from the very centre looking straight up
Viewing Conditions Illuminant Type D50
Measurement Observer CIE 1931
Measurement Flare 0.999%
Measurement Illuminant D65
XMPToolkit Adobe XMP Core 4.2-c020 1.124078, Tue Sep 11 2007 23:21:40
Creator Tool Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.3
Rating 5
Lens 20mm F2.8
Lens ID 25791
Marked True
Legacy IPTCDigest 54637D0B8D3555E06684B10F71292681
Description Night view of the Eiffel tower from the very centre looking straight up
Creator Jon Pertwee
Title Eiffel Tower Looking up from the centre
Rights Jon Pertwee 2011
Subject Paris
Creator Country Switzerland
Creator Work Email jon@jonpertwee.net
Creator Work URL www.jonpertwee.net
Color Transform YCbCr
Sensitivity Type 2
Recommended Exposure Index 100
Flash Return No return detection
Flash Mode Off
Flash Function False
Flash Red Eye Mode False

[dvtldav]

To me it looks square, not shape but plumb, although the shape is square also. I like the exposure and the lighting. It is really a neat photo and I would say you have a piece of art. I know you said there was a marker indicating the exact center of the structure but how do you know the center of your lens was exactly over the center of the "X" and how do you know you camera was pointing perfectly straight up? Not questioning just wondering. But still a great shot.

Dave

[SwissJon]

Not sure that the camera was pointing straight up, but I have a plumb line in my kit bag which I used to centre it (not sure that a couple of cm would have made much difference.. The base is 100m square). The original photo this is cropped from is not square to the edges, but the centre of this photo appears in the dead centre of the photo, which suggests I was pointing it straight up. Maybe it's lens distortion, maybe it's a trick of the eye, but for some reason the first internal square just looks at a jaunty angle.

[suzukischool]

I guess it is Square...but i must tell u the pic is verynice.

[Krusty79]

I don't have Lightroom, but don't they have a function where you can apply a grid to the image? You must have some software that will do that. That's a cool shot - it looks like a screen shot from some futuristic movie.

No one can accuse you of skimping on the exif data

[BexJarratt]

It's a tall structure and there's a surprising amount of movement up there so I'm guessing there's as likely to be a little twist too. But don't worry, it's been up there quite a while so I don't think it's affecting the structural stability of it.

[mosgood]

I like this a lot...talk about a great geometric image. Can't see any obvious imperfection as far as symetry. I suppose it's possible. Good job!

[BexJarratt]

I should probably add that I really like the picture and I don't think the slight distortion detracts from the beautiful futuristic / sci-fi feel... at this scale at least. A unique perspective.

[Bexster]

I really like this shot, very unique! It's refreshing to see an Effiel Tower pic that stands out from the usual tourist shots. Well done!

[slh]

I checked the large size on your flickr and scrolled to line up the top edge middle square with the boarder of my screen and then did the same scrolling down to line up the bottom. I hope you know what I mean. It seems that it is ever so slightly off square, bottom left seems a tad lower. Its such a small amount that its hard to believe its even noticable. I know my method is not very exact, so take it with a grain of salt, lol. Another thing I noticed is that some of the lights around the lower left of the center are out. This may be creating some kind of illusion.

I would'nt worry too much about it, its a great photo and a really good perspective. So cool!