Wonky Horizons : when can it work?

Everytime I take a photo.

It's just the obsessive, compulsive folk out there that get upset about it!

I remember in my early days here posting a photo of Pisa:lol:
 
I must be obsessive or compulsive because it just doesn't work for me at all.
 
all the time in motorsport... check it out... 45deg tilt often gives intensity and a sense of power in the image.

Don't try it in football shots though... you'll be stoned in the street :D
 
chrisbaker42 said:
I must be obsessive or compulsive because it just doesn't work for me at all.
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Same here and yet all my horizons are wonky straight out the camera. I always straighten them on keepers. Anything else drives me nuts.

I do agree with leftcurl though. Fast panning shots do sometime look good with an extreme rotation dialed in.
 
ChrisGilbert said:
When it's deliberate, IMO. When a horizon is accidentally just slightly off it can grate but skewing it deliberately makes it a more active part of the composition because it's being done for a reason, usually to compliment another, strongly angled component of the composition.
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^^^ this
 
Exactly, exaggeration is the only time it works, I use it all the time in weddings.
 
ChrisGilbert said:
When it's deliberate, IMO. When a horizon is accidentally just slightly off it can grate but skewing it deliberately makes it a more active part of the composition because it's being done for a reason, usually to compliment another, strongly angled component of the composition.
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This hits the nail on the head I think.
 
In addition to the above it can be used (again deliberately) in an abstract shot, especially in architectural photography. The abstract composition becomes the focus as opposed to the balance of the composition. This is was used in some shots in Inception as well.
 
Less than 5° or so it looks like you were just sloppy so I'd say never works, more than that and you have a slim chance of it looking right.

However if the horizon really really isn't anywhere near being an important feature in the shot then just go for it and don't worry.
 
leftcurl said:
all the time in motorsport...
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Definitely not all the time.

I went to shoot my friend driving a Lamborghini for a few laps of a circuit. It was lucky I was there as I got several shots panning with a slow shutter speed so that it looked like a fast car going fast.

The pro that was there was sitting at the exit of the chicane, where the cars were slowest, shooting them with a very high shutter speed. Every single shot was clear and sharp (which was, I guess, the desired outcome) - and boring. the cars may as well have been parked. In a vain attempt to make them look 'exciting' he tilted each shot - which made all the cars look as if they were parked on a slope!
 
Yes than can in certain circumstances. I use some funny angles when I'm shooting models and it does work for me. Landscapes are a different kettle of fish but wacky shots can work too.

Ian
 
I find it more important in landscape, where the scene as a whole is the subject. If a portrait, 'street style' or something else then it can work well because it's not really the horizon you're paying attention to, or at least it shouldn't be if you've got a good subject.
 
Oddly I've been thinking about this recently. It seems to me that it works very well in certain action shots like sports or dancing.
The horizon angle then is quite sharp (rather then moderate) and adds to the dramatic action of the shot.
 
As others have said, when its a definite part of the composition - say to get leading lines, emphasise the drama in a shot or to just plain give it some whackyness.

Landscape probably isn't the place for any of that though or anywhere else where the horizon itself is the subject of the shot.

Expect to get comments like "it makes my neck hurt" though - I get that all the time :D
 
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