I was in Santa Monica last week teaching another photo workshop. We were shooting on Main St., Santa Monica near Ocean Park.  This neighborhood is the quientessential Southern California lifestyle. Its is so super mellow and relaxing here compared to Santa Monica I know which is withing a 100 yards of 3rd St.and Promenade. Any neighborhood south of the 10 Freeway is a lot less hectic but if you like the action and the tourist trap called the Promenade., then just stay north of the 10 Fwy. Parking can be a bitch but hey you can park for free for 2 hours in any of the Building parking lots.

Going back to explaining the method of correcting distortion in wide angle shots. Most of the pics you see these days shot by amateur shutter bugs are shot with an 18mm focal length using their stock photo lens ( 18-55mm ). The effect you see here as you shoot from the street is called keystoning. This is a big no no for architectural photography but given the limitations with your camera shooting angle you are stuck with the keystone look. But there is hope as you canuse the Perspective tool in Photoshop CS2-CS5. here is the before and after look. Which ones do you like then ?

Corrected perspective. The work of local artist Chase

Shot with a  Nikon D300 and Sigma 10-20mm lens

Bio of Belgium artist now in Santa Monica. Check his work out here.