Straightning The Horizon... Please Enlighten Me

InaGlo

InaGlo

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Glo
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Ok, Ive just looked at someones landscape shot and one of the comments was "the horizon (or tree line) isn't quite straight and sloping down to the right" (hope the poster doesnt mind me using their comments).... and it got me thinking.

How do you know when to leave the horizon & when to straighten?
I understand with a seascape, on straightening the horizon but I dont get it with all landscapes.
Ive often looked at a pictures on here that are edged with trees that peak & trough and not quite understood the suggestions to straighten the horizon.
Would anyone care to show me examples, or to point me in the direction of some before & afters ... and I dont mean seascapes & flat fields.
Ta! :thumbs:
 
I think one major problem is perspective. Some people would confuse this as slanted horizons. I know where you are coming from, just havnt got any examples to show you.

King.
 
Was just reading that thread and thought that was their interpretation (which I did not actually agree with) of the view to give it a more "comfortable" look. I have received similar comments on views where the mountain rise to one side or other but to align on that basis would be madness. It really is a personal (or consensus) view. :shrug:


No bloody help, I know! :lol:
 
:agree: landscape horizons are (usually) entirely subjective - its down to the artist/photographer to present what they saw, and the viewer to interpret it. The majority will 'look' right, but some wont; I dont think there is a method of 'correctly' displaying or simulating the horizon when the there is no definite distinction between sky and land (as there is between sky & sea).
 
Also 'pends which type of lens you are using.
Wide lenses tend to distort more ... get that "leaning in" effect that can be undesirable.
.. Can compensate in PS2 with warp or the "un lens noodle" filter (name of which I cant remember)
 
Quickest thing I could find as a good example of a "sloping" horizon that works was on the fantastic Scottish Photographer Duncan Smith's Flickr stream.


381073044_90ec10216b.jpg
 
its a weird one. For some reason things just don't look straight to me sometimes, I know the kind of shots you mean...and can think of a thread, but cant find it - I will keep on looking. There is normally some kind of level in a shot I find, no matter what the scene is....so its a case of working out: a) what the subject is b) is there a level of some sort in the subject c) is that level straight d) does making that level straight make the rest of the image look wonky.

The thread I am thinking about is a shot of a horse infront of a lake (I think it is one of Janice's) and for some reason to me it just didnt look level...though it probably was, but the way the bank crossed the image and the way the trees in the background went into the distance some how just didnt seem right, However rotating it slightly in photoshop or whatever just seemed to make it more pleasing to the eye (or I should say to my eye)...

I really don't know what it is....there doesnt seem to be any rule about it, but for some reason sometimes I shot just doesnt look level. As said above though it is purely in the eye of the viewer.

soo...all that and still no help I am afraid :(

Will go look for this thread again!
 
well, HUN, that horizon is pretty straight (the sea). What would you say if that was also sloping down to the right?

Edit: The original poster (whose thread Glo got the quote from) didn't have the "Edit" tick, otherwise, I might do an "animated gif" to show the difference. :) Yes, it's up to everyone to decide whether they mind it or not. It's not only the tree line of that photo though. If you look at the water on the river, you can tell it's slanted too.
 
I also commented about straightening the shot in question. The reason is simple, the reflections in the ice/water aren't dead vertical. It's nothing to do with distortion or perspective as they all lean the same way by the same amount.
 
Thanks for the comments guys.
Kamion & pxl8, thanks for describing why you made the sugestions you did, I dont really have my eye in yet and dont fully understand everything I need to be looking with regards to the whys & wherefors with straightening.
Be prepared to enlighten me further when I come back from my trip in a couple of weeks! :D
 
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