Altered Reality: Correcting lens distortion

Sadly, even if you pay a lot of money for a lens, it is going to distort the image. As a general rule, the wider the lens' angle, the more it might distort the image—perspective changes, verticals lean inwards, people's faces appear almost caricatured. The more you might pay for a lens, the less it is likely to distort, but they all do and thankfully, Photoshop Elements has a tool, located in the Filters menu called Correct Camera Distortion. It should be called Correct Lens Distortion but, well, it works so let's not get too pedantic about its correct nomenclature.

Above: Inside one of Mexico City's many churches; I had to use a wide angle lens to get this view, but of course, with a 28mm focal length, it distorts the vertical lines, especially as I pointed the camera up when I took the snap—probably the worst thing you can do for creating more optical distortion!...