As the morning shoot continued, I refined my super-wide-angle framing, creating more drama with less distortion on the models. The curved sweep of the stairs and the background ornamentation became my friends, hinting at architectural opulence while keeping the image centered on the person. All wasn’t perfect, but I felt I was getting better. In this first photo, Diamela’s legs, particularly her foot, are too close to the edge, making it appear larger than normal. Notice how her face and upper body look noticeably smaller than her lower half. That’s wide-angle distortion at work. Yet, if you don’t scrutinize the photo, and to non-photographers, this effect is less of an issue.

I added to the drama by post-processing the photos into black and white. They came out much better than expected and were worth showing on the blog.

Carman is surrounded by architectural splendor, and her compact squat makes it easy to create a distortion-free portrait. Again, I used the long tail of her dress for drama, which is amplified by the wide-angle, but with no detrimental effect.

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