How to take a straight photo of rectangular object

4 years 8 months ago #654481 by dakotahbaby
Hello - I have a business selling rectangular serving trays. The main image I prefer is a straight on shot. I struggle all the time to get a straight shot - not tipped to the right or left and not back or forward. To check if it's straight I zoom in to see if each edge is square. 9 times out of 10 it's not. I'm using a tripod and my iphone b/c I need to be tethered so I can quickly check if it's a good image. I make sure the tray is level and use the grid lines but I'm still struggling. I'd be grateful for any advice or suggestions.  I've attached 2 photos - one straight and one crooked. Thank you!
Make: Apple
Model: iPhone 6s Plus
Lens: iPhone 6s Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2
ISO: 32
Aperture: f/2.2
Shutter speed: 1/120 sec
Captured: Thu, 4 Jul 2019 11:35am
Make: Apple
Model: iPhone 6s Plus
Lens: iPhone 6s Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2
ISO: 32
Aperture: f/2.2
Shutter speed: 1/120 sec
Captured: Thu, 4 Jul 2019 11:29am


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4 years 8 months ago #654488 by Nikon Shooter
There are three strategies in this.
1. Make sure the subject and the camera are straight in all axises
and perfectly centre the lens on the middle of it.

2. Use a longer lens — 85mm + — to avoid corner distortion.
3. In PP, keystoning may come to the rescue in case of hardball.

Light is free… capturing it is not!
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4 years 8 months ago #654498 by garyrhook
You can't use a longer lens on a mobile phone camera.

That said, a "real" camera might give you more flexibility, but we'll ignore that.

Lightroom let's you adjust (transform) your image, as does ACR in Photoshop. I'm sure other programs have a comparable feature. So quite relying on just your phone, and do some post.

You could also construct a slanted rig that would allow you to manage the geometry of the tripod/camera/subject more easily, as opposed to straight donw, or perfectly horizontal. But the easiest solution is to tweak it in post.

Frankly, that flat approach is sort of interesting, but I would think a well-lit, angled image would have value, along with showing the tray in a still life setting. (IMHO) on a background that doesn't compete for attention. A wooden tabletop, for example.

Since that looks like stone, I would think seeing how items work in the tray would be of value. But that's just me. You didn't ask about that.


Photo Comments
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4 years 7 months ago #657247 by Marinan

garyrhook wrote: Lightroom let's you adjust (transform) your image, as does ACR in Photoshop. I'm sure other programs have a comparable feature. So quite relying on just your phone, and do some post.
.


Indeed.


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