Using a Wide-Angle without warping people?

[PhotoJunkieJen]

So, I have the Sigma 10-20, which is completely awesome!

I'm just wondering if there's any way to take pictures of people without them being warped. Don't get me wrong, I understand the premise of a wide-angle is to cram lots of space into a smaller frame, thus things get shifted and pulled.

But when I have people in the pictures, they inevitably look disfigured. I'm just wondering, when I've looked at shots of people in magazines where a wide angle was clearly used, how they positioned people so they were generally in-tact.

Is there anything that can be done? Or do I just have to live with it?

[Camdixon]

I have that same lens, and I like it as well.

generally since I know it warps people I try to use it from high / low angles of the subject (which look different than most photos anyway). Because it is so wide it generally warps the subjects anyway, and if I have to shoot a big group of people I try to use the 20mm portion so it doesn't warp quite as bad.

[Niresangwa]

I use an ultra-wide extensively, in fact, it's my second lens and has been for a while. It's an integral part of the style I present - paying clients have no problems with it. I use the rather delicious Pentax 10-17. Not sure how sharp and contrasty the sigma is compared to mine however. you shouldn't get that much distortion at the 20mm end.. i use 17 with very little at all. In fact, 17mm serves its purposes so well, I rarely get to use my 20-something-mm Limited primes which is a shame.

You can always see the degree of distortion in the viewfinder while shooting, so check that first. Secondly, make sure you have enough distance between you and the subject, and make sure that they're as close to center of the frame as possible, because you probably know the distortion increases the closer to the edges they are, particularly in the vertical plane and the corners.

Software can be used to remedy this, I believe PS does it. Though I use PS a great deal, I've never tried this function, though I hear its not perfect.

It took some getting used to using ultra-wides, not only in how to handle the lens but also to accept what it does and incorporate it without getting nervous. Just embrace it. It brings a degree of fun to portrait photography that very few dare to use.

[zona5101]

Keep your film plane (image plane) parallel to the subject. When you tilt the axis you introduce more distortion. With the film plane flat, the only distortion you should see are any inherent non-rectilinear aspects of the lens or distortions introduced because an objects proximity to the lens itself.

[Jim Bryant]

I keep one set of line straight and not move in so close as to give them big noses. I have the canon 14mm f2.8, which is one of the best out on the market, it does curve a bit but I try to keep the either the Horizontal or vertical lines straight, so I don't get too much distortion.

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by PhotoJunkieJen

Don't get me wrong, I understand the premise of a wide-angle is to cram lots of space into a smaller frame, thus things get shifted and pulled.

Since your post has been pretty well answered, I thought I'd address this instead.

Really, the point of an ultrawide is not to "cram lots of space in". That is the effect. However, the real point is to distort perspective. The result is wonky when you take portraits -- but I've also seen great use of the effect with people (say, huge head and a tiny body).

When it comes to ultrawides, think perspective. Put something that you want emphasized in the middle, and things you want marginalized in the edges. The "huge head, tiny body" example is a good one. You've got to be creative, but it can look awesome!

[kirbinster]

There is dedicated software to correct the distortion. Lightroom Ver3 has lens profiles built and and you can have it correct these lens distortions either automatically, or you can adjust it yourself to reduce some but not all of the distortion.

[vandergus]

Originally Posted by kirbinster

There is dedicated software to correct the distortion. Lightroom Ver3 has lens profiles built and and you can have it correct these lens distortions either automatically, or you can adjust it yourself to reduce some but not all of the distortion.

That will only correct lens distortion like barrel and pin cushion. Those are the types of distortion that make straight line not straight.

The type of distortion that makes people's faces wonky is perspective distortion, which is caused by the camera's position relative to the subject and can't really be corrected in post-processing.

So to reduce the perspective distortion, you have to stand further away and/or place your subjects in the middle of the frame, which, unfortunately, makes for some pretty boring pictures. As others have suggested, you're probably better off embracing the distortion and making something interesting out of it.

[jdepould]

Also, placement within the frame affects distortion. Objects near the corners distort more than objects near the center.

[mateoc15]

The best way to avoid perspective distortion is to shoot at the level of your subject (eye level, for instance) and keep the lens barrel parallel to the ground. It also took me a long time (for some reason) to realize that I needed to concentrate on making sure the horizon of the shot is truly level (if that's the effect I was going for, of course). If you want to straighten the horizon in post production you'll lose the edges of the image, which, in my opinion, is the best part of a wide angle shot!