💪 Test Your Photography Skills!

May 2024 newsletter

I hope you are well! Let's see what I prepared for you in this month's newsletter without further ado.

1️⃣ Learn how to fix verticals on your architecture shots

2️⃣ Dive deep and test your photography knowledge

3️⃣ Sneak peek of the Peru Photo Tour 2025

Straighten up the vertical lines

This simple tip is what sometimes separates amateurs from pros. I'll show you how to elevate your architecture photography with Adobe Lightroom Classic easily.

The problem

When you photograph buildings using a wide-angle lens and don't keep the plane of the lens parallel to the building's facade, you get distortion, and the vertical lines no longer appear vertical but instead converge.

On the left photo, notice how to verticals are converging and then how straight they are once it's fixed.

The three solutions

1. Shoot from higher ground: Position yourself so the lens's plane is parallel to the building's facade. This method eliminates distortion.

2. Use a tilt-shift lens: These lenses allow you to tilt the plane and eliminate distortion. However, they are prime lenses and can be pretty costly.

3. Fix the vertical in post-processing: I use this method most often and will focus on it here.

How to fix verticals in Lightroom Classic

1. Locate the Transform Panel in Lightroom's Develop module. By default, it is set to OFF.
2. Start with AUTO: This setting corrects verticals in about 80% of images. If the result isn't satisfactory, proceed to the next step.
3. Use the GUIDED Option:Drag the lines along parts of the image that should be straight, horizontally, or vertically.I use apparent features of buildings or their exteriors, such as the sides of a building, lamp posts, or windows, for vertical adjustments and roofs and windows for horizontal alignment.

• Drag the lines along parts of the image that should be straight, horizontally, or vertically.
• I use apparent features of buildings or their exteriors, such as the sides of a building, lamp posts, or windows, for vertical adjustments and roofs and windows for horizontal alignment.

Remember that the more visible the initial distortion is, the more significant portion of the image you will lose!

Important Tip: If you know you must fix verticals, shoot slightly wider to avoid losing critical compositional features during cropping.

First, use guided lines that straighten up the verticals, then crop the white space in the bottom.

This technique will change how you shoot architecture and push your images to another level.

Are you ready to produce professional travel photos?

Now you can find out! I devised a self-assessment test for my multiple-day photo tour participants to discover their photography level and uncover areas I will focus on with them individually during our tour.

Now, you can take a quiz that will take about 15-20 minutes to complete and learn about your level.

Peru Photo Tour 2025

Many of you know that I return to Peru almost every year, and the idea of running a one-of-a-kind travel photography tour has been on my mind for the last four years.

I'm thrilled to announce that it's coming true in August 2025! Specifically, from August 3 to 15, 2025, with an optional pre-tour extension (August 1-2) to photograph the local festival Pachamama Raymi.

Sign up for the waitlist to receive the first information when the tour is out. People on this list will have priority access to the tour details and the ability to reserve their spots.

Are you thinking about joining me in 2024?

If you are considering joining me for one of the following photo tours in 2024, let me know by mid-June. Entirely tentatively.

Cappadocia with horses and stunning landscapes

Wild landscapes of Scotland

Classic Iceland with a private ice cave experience (by helicopter)

That's it for today. My 10-day Czech Republic Photo Tour starts tomorrow, and I cannot be more excited! Expect some lovely images from the tour in the next month's issue!