What to straighten?

[F-Stop]

Ok. Is there a rule as to what you straighten on a picture that has multiple lines defined in the shot? For instance, take the following photo:

I cropped and straightened with at the angle where the patio floor met the building behind the little girl. This makes the door behind her uneven. So my initial question again, is there a rule that governs this or is it simply whatever makes the shot look better?

 

[Marc]

I think it's a case of whatever pleases you the most. Just IMHO, I think you've done the right thing with this particular image.

 

[aberal]

I'd suggest that the rule is that you do what looks right. But what is actually straight and plumb in this instance would be the floor of the house, which is what you have done. So it doesn't matter that the door is wonky - it is in real life.

 

[Jimmy_Lemon]

I always go with the main horizontal line being straight, but that doesn't always work

 

[hashcake]

I that agree that the plumbline of the house is fine.
Many older buildings have lots of things such as doors and window frames out of true.
I love Tudor period buildings because of the wonky elements found in them.

 

[Amp34]

If it's to do with a building generally i'd straighten the verticals (so on that image it would be the door frame). On a building the walls and doors etc will be vertical, for example in that image it's most likely the floor the girl is sitting on that is out of kilter, not the doorframe.

Landscape scenes obviously are different, with the horizon most likely to be the straightest.

Having said that it is up to you how it looks best.

 

[markjayne]

You sometimes need to alter the perspective of a shot. It comes down to what angle your shooting at. If you shoot a tall building from floor height then its going to look as if its not plumb and leaning. Play around in PS and just go with what looks best to you.

Here's a shot I altered in PS.

Before...

After...

Mark

 

[Just Dave]

I would get the level of the horizon and then in this case use the transform/ perspective tool to straighten the verticals if you have photoshop hope you dont mind the edit

Original Photo By F-Stop

Dave