The Importance of Straightening The Horizon and Aligning Lines
- Thread starter BackdoorArts
- Start date
Scott Murray
Senior Member
How do you know that the horizon is dead straight in real life? maybe it is a sloping landscape, I think horizons with water should be straight but when it comes to hills and slopes there will always be some sloping.
If that's your argument, then the vast majority of landscapes should have crooked horizons.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
There are always going to be exceptions but... If the horizon in the shot is going to be level, then it needs to be dead level. If the horizon in the shot is specifically meant *not* to be level, as a compositional element for instance, then it needs to be significantly off-kilter. Not a tiny little bit, that just creates an undesirable tension in the perspective, but a whoooole lot so it clearly communicates *as* a compositional element. And while it can be done, it's not easy to do. At least not in my opinion.
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Scott Murray
Senior Member
I am just saying that not all landscapes will be straight, and I know that in Africa you have alot of sloping landscapes albeit only slight and I guess some like to keep it like it was. I do understand that straightening is needed in most but "what if" this was level in camera and nature provided the slope? I dont know the answer, I was just stating a fact.
Scott Murray
Senior Member
For example this would have been straight in camera but the horizon is not level.
http://www.allseasonssafaris.com/updates010/newsafaris/7daysitinerary/image037.jpg
http://www.allseasonssafaris.com/updates010/newsafaris/7daysitinerary/image037.jpg
Sometimes it's not whether the horizon is sloped or not. It's the effect it has on the image that's important.
Even if the horizon truly is sloped, if everyone sees an uneven horizon first, then correction should seriously be considered.
Wait, so the horizon should be leveled and all the trees/animals/people in the shot should be tilted to one side?
Don't get me wrong. I agree that unleveled horizons are a common problem. Happens to me and I'm glad to be able to level in post processing. It's still a fact that the horizon isn't always level. In fact, where I live in Colorado, it seldom is.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Going back to the OP and the linked article, something has to anchor the perspective vertically and/or horizontally. It doesn't always have to be the horizon (in Scott's case it's the Ostriches). In the prize winner, nothing does, and obviously nothing had to for the photo to be appreciated. I can only assume that the photographer had showing it the way he did, and the very nature of how the wild looks when you're out there may have been that reason - or perhaps to give the feel that you're not looking straight out but catching a glimpse off to the right.
My point was never to say it was better (the
was to show my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek), but yes, it did bother me - but I get why he did it. My original point is that most crooked lines left in a shot are not intentional and can be perceived as sloppy or incomplete work in post. Intentional or otherwise, they do lead some to be more dismissive of an image.
My point was never to say it was better (the
was to show my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek), but yes, it did bother me - but I get why he did it. My original point is that most crooked lines left in a shot are not intentional and can be perceived as sloppy or incomplete work in post. Intentional or otherwise, they do lead some to be more dismissive of an image.
I guess I should have asked what you mean by "if everyone sees an uneven horizon first." I'm probably misunderstanding your meaning. I just think the horizon should be placed in the picture the way it truly is in real life. Usually, that means level, but not always.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
The horizon is always level in real life - it's your orientation to it that may not be.
How you place it in the photo depends on what you're trying to say with the photo. If you don't know what you're trying to show then you're simply taking a snapshot and a crooked horizon is a crooked horizon. But if the horizon is placed at an angle then it should be because this orientation either accentuates the subject or gives meaning to it. If not, again, it's just a crooked horizon and it distracts from the subject simply because it's there to point to for being askew.
Definition: The horizon (or skyline) is the apparent line that separates earth from sky, the line that divides all visible directions into two categories: those that intersect the Earth's surface, and those that do not. At many locations, the true horizon is obscured by trees, buildings, mountains, etc., and the resulting intersection of earth and sky is called the visible horizon.
So by this definition what I am talking about is the visible horizon. You are talking about the true horizon. If the true horizon is lined up correctly, we both get the result we want. Sorry for misunderstanding what some of you all were saying.