One new feature that was introduced with the final release of Lightroom 3 is the Lens Corrections panel in the Develop module. By using the Lens Corrections panel you can correct both distortion and vertical convergence (among other things).
Wondering what that means, and how it makes photos way better? Read on, my friend.
First take a look at the before image below.
The most noticeable problem is the vertical converging lines (i.e. the lines are closer together at the top than the bottom).
Also take a close look at those tan colored bands. Notice how from top to bottom they kind of curve out a little bit, almost like an extremely subtle fisheye effect. That’s distortion created by the lens.
Luckily, you can use the Lens Corrections panel to correct both problems!
Before
After
The nice thing about the Lens Corrections panel in Lightroom 3 is that Adobe has profiled a variety of common/popular lenses in order to provide automatic lens correction.
Just check off that “Enable Profile Corrections” box. This will solve the distortion problem easy peasy.
You’ll have to manually take care of the vertical converging lines. Jump into the Manual side of the panel and spend some time manipulating the sliders. You’ll quickly discover what effect they have on the image.
Tip: Make sure “Constrain Crop” is checked so that any adjustments you make automatically crop in on the photo so that you don’t have edges showing.
This is especially useful for portrait photography where removing any sort of distortion provides a more realistic perspective of a person. Not only that, but since a lot of modern portrait photography is shot at wider apertures the automatic removal of vignette is really great.
So check out the new Lens Corrections panel in the Develop module. It’s an exciting new feature in Lightroom 3 that improves your images quickly and easily. High fives!
