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Puzzled by distortion in this photo
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Sep 22, 2016 20:39:47   #
LiamRowan Loc: Michigan
 
This is my wife. I snapped this photo of her in a stairwell that had cool glass showing the outside light and trees yesterday.

Note her right hand, which looks enormous compared to how it looks in reality. What baffles me is that it is right up against her leg, not held out significantly closer to the camera. The window bars are square in reality, but in the image they taper at the bottom and widen to the top. Is that a hint as to what is causing the distortion in the size of the hand? My thinking is that the window bars appear to be getting closer together because they are progressively farther from the lens, so why would the hand do the opposite? Sure am confused . . .

6D, ISO 640, f5, 1/125


(Download)

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Sep 22, 2016 20:48:28   #
BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten
 
My thought is you used a wide angle lense fairly close to her when shot.

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Sep 22, 2016 20:53:20   #
LiamRowan Loc: Michigan
 
BassmanBruce wrote:
My thought is you used a wide angle lense fairly close to her when shot.


I used a 24-105mm lens at 45mm.

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Sep 22, 2016 20:56:41   #
Rongnongno Loc: FL
 
There is no distortion other than the optical miscue due to the dark background on the right side and the light on left side. Also one hand is flat and the other a profile...

I compared the 'real' thumb sizes and proportions.

As to veins size (a bigger problem in opinion) there is a simple solution of keeping her arms above her shoulder a few seconds before you capture the scene. That is a minor flaw so... Disregard if you like.

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Sep 22, 2016 21:00:17   #
usken65
 
Are we just supposed to take your word for it that she doesn't have 1 huge hand.

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Sep 22, 2016 21:01:03   #
LiamRowan Loc: Michigan
 
Perhaps "distortion" is the wrong word. It appears disproportionate to how it looks in real life, by perhaps as much as 30%. I do not know what an "optical miscue" is. Thanks.

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Sep 22, 2016 21:02:03   #
Rongnongno Loc: FL
 
Your eyes get fooled, nothing more.

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Sep 22, 2016 21:02:06   #
LiamRowan Loc: Michigan
 
usken65 wrote:
Are we just supposed to take your word for it that she doesn't have 1 huge hand.


Yes, please take my word for it. I would not be wasting everyone's time on the forum. Here's an image with her hands looking like they normally do.



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Sep 23, 2016 06:06:43   #
Al Freeedman
 
Should have used a longer lens, 85 MM or 105 MM

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Sep 23, 2016 10:08:43   #
ole sarg Loc: south florida
 
Could be swelling from after she clipped ya!

Try reproducing the shot using various focal lengths.

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Sep 23, 2016 10:57:34   #
wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN
 
One thing, a sharp lens is not the best lens for portraiture unless you are 20 with perfect skin.

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Sep 23, 2016 11:16:32   #
Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA
 
LiamRowan wrote:
This is my wife. I snapped this photo of her in a stairwell that had cool glass showing the outside light and trees yesterday.

Note her right hand, which looks enormous compared to how it looks in reality. What baffles me is that it is right up against her leg, not held out significantly closer to the camera. The window bars are square in reality, but in the image they taper at the bottom and widen to the top. Is that a hint as to what is causing the distortion in the size of the hand? My thinking is that the window bars appear to be getting closer together because they are progressively farther from the lens, so why would the hand do the opposite? Sure am confused . . .

6D, ISO 640, f5, 1/125
This is my wife. I snapped this photo of her in a... (show quote)


Liam,

It appears you suffered with a few optical distortion problems with this image.
Notice the glass panels are not vertical, and have a perspective distortion as we look from top to bottom. This is caused by a wide angle lens and the camera not being perpendicular with the glass background.

The size of her hand on her hip vs on railing is caused by the wide angle lens and the camera too close to the subject.

Both errors can be corrected by selecting a lens with a longer focal length (80 – 100mm), and backing up to frame the subject in the viewfinder.

Any remaining perspective errors can be corrected in PP.

Michael G

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Sep 23, 2016 12:26:40   #
Architect1776 Loc: In my mind
 
LiamRowan wrote:
This is my wife. I snapped this photo of her in a stairwell that had cool glass showing the outside light and trees yesterday.

Note her right hand, which looks enormous compared to how it looks in reality. What baffles me is that it is right up against her leg, not held out significantly closer to the camera. The window bars are square in reality, but in the image they taper at the bottom and widen to the top. Is that a hint as to what is causing the distortion in the size of the hand? My thinking is that the window bars appear to be getting closer together because they are progressively farther from the lens, so why would the hand do the opposite? Sure am confused . . .

6D, ISO 640, f5, 1/125
This is my wife. I snapped this photo of her in a... (show quote)


Optical illusion.
The hand is projecting straight at you with the arm receding into the background. The are is also extremely skinny accentuating the perspective distortion.
The second shot the hand and arm are in the same plane and there is not the perspective distortion.
Lens choice cannot do much about this unless it is 400mm or more.

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Sep 23, 2016 14:59:42   #
cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast
 
I agree with the others. The focal length chosen was the source of the "distortion". The posing does contribute a bit.

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Sep 23, 2016 15:26:54   #
R.G. Loc: Scotland
 
The lack of squareness for the windows is easily explained. If you look at where the centre of the picture is, it's well below eye level, so the camera was pointing down at a significant angle, generating the convergence that you see. The size of the hand is probably an optical illusion, caused by the arm receding into the distance and the fact that the fingers are splayed and the wrist is so thin.

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