Get your photos level
Nov 1, 2019 10:09:50 #
I have a camera with a built in level. The other cameras have a level that attaches to the hot shoe. Either method has worked fine for me
Nov 1, 2019 10:19:15 #
Nov 1, 2019 10:19:47 #
Jay Pat wrote:
What do you use to determine, "level"?
Land meeting the sky is not always level.
Water and land is not always level.
Just looking for guidelines.
Pat
Land meeting the sky is not always level.
Water and land is not always level.
Just looking for guidelines.
Pat
That is actually a good question. Yes, I often, too often shoot off level and as others say loose the edges in straightening the image out. But there are places where I've shot such as the Trona Pinnacles near Trona and Ridgecrest, CA. Yes, where the big July 5 Earthquake was. The entire area is tilted from previous earthquakes over the millennia. The area in the "flat" places is devoid of trees so looking at the horizon everything is titled 1/2 to 1 degree. The are lots of titled terrains in the world. True, trees and water are of could tangent to gravity. Well, sometimes even trees are not.
Also, if you are not a purist you can correct level with the Transform Controls in say Photoshop. That is often what I do to "clean" up stitched panoramas. In that case with out likely loosing anything around the edges. But is could Skew the Geometry or Proportions a little.
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Nov 1, 2019 10:37:16 #
KTJohnson wrote:
My camera, fairly old now, a Sony A77 has a level display, both for horizontal level and front/back tilt level. I don't know how many others have this.
Using those can make the composition level TECHNICALLY, however, sometimes I have to tweek it in Lightroom to make it LOOK level.
Using those can make the composition level TECHNICALLY, however, sometimes I have to tweek it in Lightroom to make it LOOK level.
I use the leveler display in my A6500 occasionally.
Nov 1, 2019 10:38:23 #
I thought pretty much all cameras come with built-in levels?
Mine just is there in the VF all the time ... hard to take an off-kilter image ... unless I do it on purpose.
Mine just is there in the VF all the time ... hard to take an off-kilter image ... unless I do it on purpose.
Nov 1, 2019 10:47:40 #
Nov 1, 2019 10:55:13 #
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Nov 1, 2019 11:16:15 #
Angel Star Photography
Loc: Tacoma, WA
gvarner wrote:
There’s a penalty to pay in PP, you’ll lose some dimension when the photo gets cropped from leveling. I shoot crooked all the time and sometimes it’s so bad I lose quite a bit of the composition as the PP crops to fit the new frame. I usually try to level in RAW and then just accept the loss.
I have experienced this, too, and have been using the virtual level in my camera. In my camera, and probably many others, there is a virtual level which can be displayed in the viewfinder. After composing my shot, I often check this level indicator and adjust as much as possible without losing the composition. Sometimes, it isn't possible, especially when trying to correct for the pitch (vertical leveling) and I will put more emphasis on the roll (horizontal leveling). This has helped reduced the amount of of loss due to leveling in post processing.
When dealing with pitch issues, if I cannot get the composition desired, I will make sure the roll of the camera is level and take multiple vertical shots with the plan of creating a vertical panorama. In this case, my camera orientation is typically landscape because there will be a lot cropped out from post processing transformations.
Nov 1, 2019 11:33:38 #
Angel Star Photography
Loc: Tacoma, WA
Jay Pat wrote:
What do you use to determine, "level"?
Land meeting the sky is not always level.
Water and land is not always level.
Just looking for guidelines.
Pat
Land meeting the sky is not always level.
Water and land is not always level.
Just looking for guidelines.
Pat
I often use the tops and edges of buildings where possible. Power poles, especially those that are metal, can be a good reference. Street edges can be used sometimes. Street signs are not the best as they are often not straight but large billboards can be a good reference for the pitch (vertical leveling). I have sometimes used the rivets on bridges or ships. Basically, anything that you can find in the image that would have known straight edge and is not in a receding perspective. When these are absent, I will try to adjust according to what I remember about the scene.
Nov 1, 2019 11:40:00 #
My Pentax K-5 has a leveling bubble in camera. I don't always look at it, however. It is a very useful tool, if you have time to look at it and correct the camera. On a tripod it gets used every time which saves time trying to level the tripod.
Nov 1, 2019 11:45:51 #
Fotoartist wrote:
Standing water is always level Pat.
Yes, that is true. However, if we can see the water around an object ,we can be sure the water line is level. It is when the water is seen against a distant shore line where we get into trouble. If that shore line recedes the illusion is that the image isn't level even though it might be.
In the final analysis it is the appearance of level that counts.
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Nov 1, 2019 12:06:16 #
Rich1939 wrote:
Yes, that is true. However, if we can see the water around an object ,we can be sure the water line is level. It is when the water is seen against a distant shore line where we get into trouble. If that shore line recedes the illusion is that the image isn't level even though it might be.
In the final analysis it is the appearance of level that counts.
In the final analysis it is the appearance of level that counts.
Agreed.
Nov 1, 2019 12:10:49 #
But it also is impacted by the focal length of the shot and the orientation of the subject to the plane of the sensor or film.
pecohen wrote:
What if such cameras included the orientation of the camera as data with each captured image. That would take the guess-work out of determining how much to correct to the actual horizon.
Nov 1, 2019 12:26:58 #
amfoto1
Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
Jay Pat wrote:
What do you use to determine, "level"?
Land meeting the sky is not always level.
Water and land is not always level.
Just looking for guidelines.
Pat
Land meeting the sky is not always level.
Water and land is not always level.
Just looking for guidelines.
Pat
I use verticals a lot more often than horizontal objects.
It really depends upon the scene and subject(s), but often getting verticals plumb is more accurate than getting horizontal lines perfectly level.
As you noted, a lot of things aren't really level. But even perspective effects can cause a truly level horizontal line to appear out of kilter a little.
Water is always level... so a horizon line on the ocean is pretty predictable. But a shoreline isn't necessarily.
Sometimes it looks better to go ahead and make a horizontal line level, even when you know it's not.
Nov 1, 2019 12:28:56 #
gvarner wrote:
There’s a penalty to pay in PP, you’ll lose some dimension when the photo gets cropped from leveling. I shoot crooked all the time and sometimes it’s so bad I lose quite a bit of the composition as the PP crops to fit the new frame. I usually try to level in RAW and then just accept the loss.
I set both of my camera bodies up to display grid squares in the viewfinder so the keeping the horizon level is easy. Great for verticals too.
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