Correct lens distortion without affecting person?

[bythecshore]

I have a photo of a person taken from a slightly high angle, that is the camera is above her head looking down. The backgound is a bookcase and the verticle parts of it show a lot of parallax.

I'd like to correct that so the bookcase looks normal, but when I do, using the "Correct Camera Distortion" filter, it widens out the bottom of the photo, making the bookcase look good, but also making her look fatter. That's not gonna fly.

So how can I fix the bookcase without affecting her? 

[MichelBParis]

Do the contrary, the bookcase will not mind...

Optimize for the person which will increase the convergence of vertical lines, making the perspective more natural.

If the convergence is not too strong and for an 'official' portrait, you would have to optimize separately the background and the person selection.

[bythecshore]

Haha, yes, no complaints from the bookcase so far!

Not sure what you mean by "optimize for the person?"

[MichelBParis]

According from your description, the head and the body of the person may need using the command:

Image >> transform >> distort (or the filter correct camera distortion).

- generally you can cheat by extending the canvas a bit vertically

- and narrowing the base base of the image

The result will also increase the convergence of the verticals; today most viewers find this perspective more "natural".