On 07/05/2015 14:41, Whiskers wrote:
On 2015-05-07, Peter Jason wrote:
I have some old photos of my locality going back about 70 years.

I want to compare these old scenes with their modern equivalents.

How does one position a camera (and lens) to match the ancient scenes
so that the old & current images are superimposable (or nearly so).

Look for landmarks that still exist, judge from the old pictures how
they align with each other, and using maps and moving yourself about in
the actual landscape refine your first guesses until you find yourself
in the one position which matches the alignment of things in the old
picture.

Don't be too surprised if you find the old photos were taken from a
point that is no longer accessible, or even there - such as the roof of
a building since demolished, or the roof of a car since driven away.

Take note of local history. Buildings and even hills can be moved, but
that usually leaves some trace in the gossip of locals.

Some old photos are composites, with different elements taken from
photos shot from different places and at different times. Clashing
shadows and weird perspectives might reveal those.




As has been suggested, the picture will quite possible have been taken
on a plate camera where angle of the lens can be changed to adjust
verticals. There are cameras that will do this and modern software will
allow some correction.

I tend to often take very wide shots with large expanses of space in the
foreground and then crop down.

I have taken a few showing a 'then and now' view, they are not perfectly
aligned but near enough to show the changes.

http://www.mbriscoe.me.uk/page273a.html

One of Murphy's Laws probably says that you can guarantee that something
will have been built blocking the view though!