Sloping Images?

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Dorsetsnapshot

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Mark
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Hi All,

Just trying to get some info on an issue I'm having at the moment. I went away this weekend with the mrs and took the camera, but couldn't take the tripod with me this time.

I went to a few stately homes/ruined castles with my camera, but without a tripod to steady things, alot of my photo's seem to me that they aren't completely level, and they ruin it for me.

Is the only way to deal with this to take a tripod, or do you have any techniques that you use when out if without your tripod? Can it be sorted in Photoshop at home, or is it once the photos taken, it's done?

Thanks,
Mark
 
You can sort with photoshop, by rotating image then cropping the image down, or you maybe able to skew the image abit but that option also may cause problems.
 
This level of editing can be done in just about all image editors, including the free ones.
Photoshop is complete overkill unless you already have it.

I use Lightroom to sort out my wonky horizons.
Lightroom 4 has a tool where you draw a line along the horizon and it then rotates / crops to make that line level.
I believe Lightroom 5 has a magic button that works out where the horizon is in the image and does it all for you!
 
If you have CS5 then right click on the eyedropper tool and select the ruler tool from the drop down menu.
Draw a line on what should be horizontal and then click straighten on the top tool bar,that should do it.
Sorry but I don't know about earlier versions of Photoshop
 
Dorsetsnapshot said:
Is the only way to deal with this to take a tripod, or do you have any techniques that you use when out if without your tripod?
Click to expand...

Display a grid or horizon line on your screen and use live view.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, it's good to know that my lack of tripod may not have ruined some photo's. I'll see what I can download in terms of post editing software for free and have a go. I definitely need something, i've taken some photos of a ruined castle, and I like some of the pictures, but they're so bland in colour, like really dull, there's no richness to the colour, the grass is so light it's almost grey.

Looks like I need to put as much effort into post editing as I do to taking the photos themselves!
 
ernesto said:
Display a grid or horizon line on your screen and use live view.
Click to expand...

I have the old D60, doesn't seem to give a live view, only lets me view after I've taken the shot. (Unless I'm being stupid (Which is highly plausible))
 
It could be parallax error if your shooting large buildings and its coming out wonky. just doing a crop and rotating it wont sort it out, itll sort one of the edges not the others.

Photoshop has a perspective crop tool where you can crop each edge at a different angle to straighten everything up. Not sure what free software has that tho.
 
Dorsetsnapshot said:
Thanks for the replies guys, it's good to know that my lack of tripod may not have ruined some photo's. I'll see what I can download in terms of post editing software for free and have a go. I definitely need something, i've taken some photos of a ruined castle, and I like some of the pictures, but they're so bland in colour, like really dull, there's no richness to the colour, the grass is so light it's almost grey.

Looks like I need to put as much effort into post editing as I do to taking the photos themselves!
Click to expand...
What was the light like?

It's as likely crap light or overexposure as a need for extra processing that's giving you dull photo's.

You need to take more care before the exposure, taking care post capture will never make crap photo's great.
 
Phil V said:
What was the light like?

It's as likely crap light or overexposure as a need for extra processing that's giving you dull photo's.

You need to take more care before the exposure, taking care post capture will never make crap photo's great.
Click to expand...

It was quite bright, around 4pm too. I imagine it's a combination of light/over exposure. I've never used a filter before, but heard I should do. I think I need a lot more time practising things.
 
Agree with Phil. Editing can help but the effort needs to be put in during capture, silk purses and sows ears come to mind.

Apologies if you already know this but you need to understand aperture, ISO and shutter speed, how they relate to each other and the effect each has on the final shot.

I don't know your camera but one of the great things about digital photography is you can see the results instantly. If the shot is rubbish then work out why, adjust what you need to and take another. This is not always possible but in the situations where it is, you can learn a lot.

If you want a free, (admittedly limited) but VERY easy to use editor try Photoscape.

For a freebie that is more sophisticated, have a look at GIMP.

Dave
 
Dorsetsnapshot said:
I have the old D60, doesn't seem to give a live view, only lets me view after I've taken the shot. (Unless I'm being stupid (Which is highly plausible))
Click to expand...

Not sure about the D60 but there might be a grid guide that can be superimposed on the VF image - there is on the D70. Not foolproof (this fool always had problems keeping horizons level even using the guides!) but it can help. There's also a gadget made by Seculine which is a level that slips into the hotshoe. Where it's superior to the cheap bubble levels is that it's visible when the camera's to the eye.
 
Dorsetsnapshot said:
I have the old D60, doesn't seem to give a live view, only lets me view after I've taken the shot. (Unless I'm being stupid (Which is highly plausible))
Click to expand...

Good point, didn't think about that!

You can add that to your list of reasons why you need to upgrade if you ever need an excuse :)
 
you should be able to straighten the images in ViewNX - the free Nikon software
 
ernesto said:
Good point, didn't think about that!

You can add that to your list of reasons why you need to upgrade if you ever need an excuse :)
Click to expand...

I have been considering upgrading to something newer for a while, but I bought a new lens to try out instead.

I don't think I get out enough/am good enough to upgrade at the moment.

I need to start getting back out again, after reading a beginners guide to refresh myself, and get the buzz back. At the moment it seems that all the photo's I try and take don't come out the way I want, I look at everyone else's good photo's, and it gets a bit disheartening.

Need to take some good photo's and get the buzz back. Especially as I now can't afford to party much (due to an upcoming wedding!)
 
I may be saying what you already know, if so apologies in advance :)

I believe that your camera has 3 focus point brackets in the viewfinder, you can use these to check for horizontal or vertical leveling if you have something horizontal or vertical to line them up with.

Picasa is another free editing program, simple to use but a bit basic. Personally I would go with Nikon View NX2 as someone has already said.
 
It's luck to get things level w/o a way of clamping the camera.

You don't need live view on a dslr for geting exposure right, you can review the image after taking. At that point, can you also call up a histogram, maybe alongside the image?

If not then you just have to eyeball the exposure results on the displayed image. Normally, blown highlights are the biggest bogey to avoid.

If using a camera on auto-exposure, the control I use most is exposure compensation. Often I guess ahead before the shot, beyond that it's trial & error (a feedback loop).
 
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The program that I found to be the easiest to straighten images with is Picasa. A grid appears over the image, you move a slider to line it up with either something horizontal or vertical with the grid, and then apply. Sorted. :D

It does the simple things that most people want to do, and it's free. :) Make sure you download it from Google though, ;) because they make it.
 
you could buy a sony, they have a hud style level thingy that works pretty well. my dad likes it, i tend to use the rule of thirds one. its one of the plus sides of evf :)
 
When the camera is on a tripod how do you decide when its level? I am guessing by eye. If so then when you dont have a tripod, use the same method. Just make sure your shutter speed is fast enough so you dont get camera shake is the only difference.
Isnt it? :shrug:

Use tried and tested methods like leaning on a fence, leaning against a wall/tree etc to help you keep steady.
 
pingu666 said:
you could buy a sony, they have a hud style level thingy that works pretty well. my dad likes it, i tend to use the rule of thirds one. its one of the plus sides of evf :)
Click to expand...

Two of my Nikon DSLRs can have a level superimposed over the real OVF image in the VF. The 2 Fujis I use also have electronic levels, although only the bridge has a VF (EVF). IIRC, they all have composition aids too, despite only one having an EVF...
 
There are many factors in this...

Old castles and stately homes rarely have straight walls, this is a fact I know all too well.

You can line up using a grid guide (on D60?) or using the focus points, line them up with a level surface or horizon.

Your height with respect to what your shooting, will cause straight walls to lean inwards if your not shooting 100% straight ahead, as soon as you look upwards things will start to become distorted, same if you shoot downwards from a height. You can't avoid this, but have to learn to line up the shot when there are no straight lines and there are no quick fixes.

A low focal length will exaggerate all this ^^.

You can get hotshoe mounted spirit levels (about £2 on Ebay), but these are only really useful with a tripod.

Finally you can use Nikons free software "Capture NX" to straighten your images.
 
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Not every camera has a grid for lining up But every camera has a rectangular view of the image. It is very easy to line things up when you take the shot. just practise "seeing" the frame as well as the subject. It soon become second nature.
 
DuncanDisorderly said:
T

I use Lightroom to sort out my wonky horizons.
Lightroom 4 has a tool where you draw a line along the horizon and it then rotates / crops to make that line level.
I believe Lightroom 5 has a magic button that works out where the horizon is in the image and does it all for you!
Click to expand...

Does it :thumbs:. Just need to find it now.
 
vRSG60 said:
Does it :thumbs:. Just need to find it now.
Click to expand...

If you choose the crop tool in LR4 and then click on the Ruler icon, it allows you to draw a line over something in the pic you want horizontal or vertical, and then rotates the image.

I find the Straighten Tool in Adobe Camera Raw better, as it works the same way as in LR4, but allows you to zoom into the image to to draw the line more accurately. In some scenes the thing I'm trying to align the image to is very small. If I could do that in LR4 I would LR more often. :thinking: As it is, I sometimes feel like I'm trying to straighten images at arms length in LR.
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the replies. I will ensure I take my tripod out now, even when I don't imagine i'll want to. I think some of my shots I wanted to be straight were my own error.

Things shall improve. I'm going to look into all the pp editing software mentioned. Free ones first of course, and take it from there.

I'm going to stop being a little b1tch, take my tripod out and get some better (straight) photo's, then maybe look at filters aswell, and I'm sure things will improve!
 
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