Do you want a fast and easy way to “hemispherically” straighten things up? You can now do it inside Aperture with the Fisheye-Hemi plug-in from Image Trends.

At a single click of a radio button, the Fisheye-Hemi “automatically remaps your fisheye images to minimize distortion and maximize the preservation of all image details.”

The Fisheye-Hemi plug-in offers three very specific quick fixes for three types of barrel distortions caused by the lens/camera combination used: Circle, Full Frame, and Cropped. The first correction, Circle, is ideal for full fish-eye views with 180-degree “globe” field. The second correction, Full Frame, is useful for correcting stretched images in full frame view. And the third correction, Cropped, is ideal for images with mild distortions.

The “hemispheric” digital correction appears to be far better than the usual “rectilinear” corrections. The rendering and mapping techniques allow for the preservation of more image details or information while providing an aesthetically pleasing correction in the perimeter areas of an image.

But while it is good to have 3 distinct adjustment choices already mathematically computed and which you can select from by clicking on the radio button, I feel however that this might be a bit limiting, and does not allow for total flexibility. A slider variable control instead of 3 very specific radio button adjustments might allow for a more beneificial subtle graduated corrections or changes. This would probably be infinitely more useful than simply a static choice between 3 fixed corrections.

The application of the Fisheye-Hemi plug-in is very specific. There are probably other Aperture editing plug-in that you’d end up using more often than this. But if you tend to shoot using ultra-wide lenses a lot, if you are always shooting in tight spaces, and if you plan to use this for other more “creative” means, then this plug-in is definitely for you.

For sure, when you install and use Image Trends’ Fisheye-Hemi plug-in, what you may have in mind is how you can straighten things up or minimize the effects of barrel distortions in your photos. You naturally want your pictures to appear more aesthetically pleasing. This is all well and good. And that is how most photographers would probably want to use it.

However, there’s no rule out there that says you can’t use it the other way around--to deliberately distort an image. Using the Fisheye-Hemi plug-in might just add an interesting new “look” or a different “dimension” to your images. I think this can be a fun and perhaps useful way to apply the Fisheye-Hemi plug-in, and it might hopefully add a peculiar if not more interest to images with patterns or stylistic approaches. This plug-in offers an opportunity to create a more artistic shot.

The Fisheye-Hemi plug-in for Aperture from Image Trends costs $29.95. It is simple and straight-forward, and it works, earning a 4.0 out of 5.0 rating. Click here to check out this plug-in. A free trial is available for download.

Image Trends, incidentally, also announced that they will also be releasing two other plug-ins for Aperture, ShineOff and PearlyWhites, within the next 60 days. You can check out the latest news and information from Image Trends here.

[Note: Domnique James is professional photographer currently based in Atlanta, GA. He is an Apple Certified Professional and Trainer for Aperture 2.0. Photo in screenshot by Dominique James of The Studio and The Playground. Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved.]