Neighbours looking fat! I won a Nikon Coolpix S9300 & gave it to son-in-law (he has his D300 for serious work). This was one of his first photos, taken on Auto; he says that the person...

rogerl Loc: UK (Harrogate, North Yorkshire)

I won a Nikon Coolpix S9300 & gave it to son-in-law (he has his D300 for serious work). This was one of his first photos, taken on Auto; he says that the person at each end is not really that fat. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what went wrong (there's been no processing so please ignore the other sub-optimal factors!)? [Neighbours = neighbors!]

Neighbours

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

rogerl wrote:

I won a Nikon Coolpix S9300 & gave it to son-in-law (he has his D300 for serious work). This was one of his first photos, taken on Auto; he says that the person at each end is not really that fat. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what went wrong (there's been no processing so please ignore the other sub-optimal factors!)? [Neighbours = neighbors!]

It appears to be wide angle distortion.

albertaoldie Loc: Lloydminster Alberta

The gentleman on the left is several feet closer to the lens which will give this effect. If your a fisherman you will know that holding the fish at arms length towards the camera makes even a minnow look like a trophy. I suspect this is the effect your getting. The Lady on the right is also slightly ahead of the person on her right...may give a little effect. Im certain other members will have better ideas.

crazy4thread Loc: Minnesota

rogerl wrote:

I won a Nikon Coolpix S9300 & gave it to son-in-law (he has his D300 for serious work). This was one of his first photos, taken on Auto; he says that the person at each end is not really that fat. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what went wrong (there's been no processing so please ignore the other sub-optimal factors!)? [Neighbours = neighbors!]

wondering if the camera was set at a wide angle setting? I know some dslr wide angle lenses used close up will distort people.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

Definitely wide angle distortion. If you have to take a wide angle shot of people, try not to have anyone close to the edge of the frame.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

rogerl wrote:

I won a Nikon Coolpix S9300 & gave it to son-in-law (he has his D300 for serious work). This was one of his first photos, taken on Auto; he says that the person at each end is not really that fat. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what went wrong (there's been no processing so please ignore the other sub-optimal factors!)? [Neighbours = neighbors!]

Correcting the perspective in PP would probably help. Pointing the camera downward makes the chest and heads look larger. Or, keep the camera level when shooting.

charryl Loc: New Mexico, USA

rogerl wrote:

I won a Nikon Coolpix S9300 & gave it to son-in-law (he has his D300 for serious work). This was one of his first photos, taken on Auto; he says that the person at each end is not really that fat. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what went wrong (there's been no processing so please ignore the other sub-optimal factors!)? [Neighbours = neighbors!]

This doesn't answer your question but if the photo is important enough to try to address the issue, then the puppet warp feature in photoshop can fix the distortion.

rogerl Loc: UK (Harrogate, North Yorkshire)

charryl wrote:

quote=rogerl I won a Nikon Coolpix S9300 & ga... (show quote)

Charryl - thank you. I have Photoshop CS2 & Elements 9 but can't find 'puppet warp' in either.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

albertaoldie wrote:

The gentleman on the left is several feet closer to the lens which will give this effect. If your a fisherman you will know that holding the fish at arms length towards the camera makes even a minnow look like a trophy. I suspect this is the effect your getting. The Lady on the right is also slightly ahead of the person on her right...may give a little effect. Im certain other members will have better ideas.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

papayanirvana Loc: Kauai

I always vertically stretch pics of friends and family...

no one ever complains.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

Later versions of Photoshop also have lens distortion filter. If you have a friend with the current version of Photoshop, you might ask him if you can use his computer for a little while. Then Google how to use the lens distortion filter.

charryl Loc: New Mexico, USA

rogerl wrote:

quote=charryl quote=rogerl I won a Nikon Coolpix... (show quote)

I think it was new starting in CS5.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

This distortion happens a LOT when people don't mind the "plane of focus" when they're photographing something.

Think of it this way; your camera lens is a flat plane that you "project" on to the group...it moves away from you like a flat piece of glass, parallel to your lens.

Whatever it strikes first (whatever is closest to the camera) will not only get emphasis that you might not want it to have, but as you see in the case of a short lens, it causes distortion of the body parts.

Rule: Whatever is closest, or in focus, or largest in the lens will get the viewers attention...so keep your group parallel to your "plane"...

Does that make sense?

rogerl Loc: UK (Harrogate, North Yorkshire)

Many thanks to all of you. We'll take the lessons on board.

ezirider Loc: Maumelle, Ark.

try to get about waist high and move back if possible
that should help and if using a flash bounce it off the ceiling