I am freaking crooked!

[opus]

I can't understand why the horizon in so many of my shots is tilted (ALWAYS the same direction!) and I don't see it through the viewfinder. What the heck is wrong with me? Do I have one leg longer than the other and my eyes have just adapted or something?

[opus]

Fortunately those aren't my best shots, and of the ones that are critical, I can crop in photoshop.

But it annoys me!


BTW, this wedding took place just after the remnants of Ike passed through.

[Frog]

Well, it is a fact that everybody has one leg longer than the other but yours seems to be a rather drastic case.
How much did you drink at that wedding before shooting? ;-)

[Greg McCary]

I think it is just habit. If you shot holding the camera on the left your picture would probably lean the other way.

[Sebastian]

Every single shot I have is tilted to the right about 1.4-2 degrees. The straighten tool is my best friend. We hang out all the time. I drive him home when he drinks too much and he yells and curses at me as I drag him into his house, but the next day we're still buddies. That's how you know you have a good friendship.

[Canuck935]

Yeah I had this issue for the longest time. I haven't noticed it lately now that I think about it.. and I bet my use of a vertical grip might have something to do with that..

[jorgemonkey]

I'm convinced my camera had a sensor that wasn't aligned perfectly which is why a lot of my photos are a little crooked straight from the camera.

But then I noticed the same effect on all 3 of my cameras, and also the rental one I used last weekend. I guess its the photographer after all

[Canuck935]

Hmm.. Maybe the next big thing for camera's will be a built in bubble level in the viewfinder!

[another view]

We hang out all the time. I drive him home when he drinks too much and he yells and curses at me as I drag him into his house, but the next day we're still buddies. That's how you know you have a good friendship.

Aaargh.... Ooooh.... Got any aspirin? Sorry about what I'm not sure that I did last night.

First time I went to an airshow, all of my shots were like this - antique planes that taxi with the tail on the ground made me do it. With some cameras you can have a grid show up in the viewfinder. It's always on with mine (and I still screw up a lot).

[hollis]

here is an accessory made just for you!
$20

http://www.amazon.com/Adorama-5411-D.../dp/B00005QFAF

[Grandpaw]

My Nikon has a grid you can turn on in the menu for the viewfinder to help you keep things level. I don't know if Canon has this feature or not but you might look and see. I sure am glad I proof read my reply because I mistakenly put copy machine instead of Canon the first time I wrote this. I don't want to get anyone mad at me just kidding! Jeff

I still have a few of my kits left but they are going fast! Order soon, Jeff
New horizon leveling tool. A MUST HAVE!!

[Wild Wassa]

The way we perceive a real image without distortions, isn't necessarily the way that we will record it, when the image is being viewed as a virtual image ... an image seen through the viewfinder or on a ground glass screen.

This phenomenon is called the 'constancy effect'. There are several problem phenomena in this effect that may need consciously correcting.

We know exactly what we saw. We know how bright and exactly how big the subject appeared in relation to its surroundings. How well we framed the subject. How level the format was. We know exactly what we photographed ... "but this tilted little dark object isn't it."

When object reflectance is held and fixed, different observers have shown huge differences in what they think they are seeing or saw. Some photographers show substantial or complete constancy by fixing an image, where as some show very little and can adapt to the subject's change and see problems and respond.

We have all created different strategies for holding and fixing an image, apparently. Some of us hold that image for a lot longer that we think when looking through a viewfinder, ... even held well past tripping the shutter button.

One of my past lecturers Mr Allan Hewlett, described the problem of the 'constancy effect' as, a form of tunnel vision caused by being totally focussed on the principal subject, to the detriment of the other elements in the image.

Once you know that the ‘constancy effect’ is a real problem to photographers ... that problem tends to go away or is much reduced. Just another part of learning to see deeply through a viewfinder, that's all.

Warren.

[another view]

I sure am glad I proof read my reply because I mistakenly put copy machine instead of Canon the first time I wrote this

Ooh...

I have the grid lines on the focusing screen and TWO of those hotshoe bubble levels and still get a lot of use out of the straightener tool.

[photophorous]

I don't know what you're talking about. They look straight to me.

[drg]

You may have what gun shooters call 'the yips'. It is a phenomena of your shutter release technique not being quite perfect.

The camera can be easily tested by using tripod and a brick wall to see if what you are seeing in the viewfinder lines up with the mortar joints between the bricks. Use a timer or a remote to take an photograph.

If the lines and the edge of the picture frame line up, then there is a strong possibility of the camera being rotated just slightly as you release the shutter, and thus the tilt/rotation. As it is subconscious, it always is in the same direction. Get someone to watch you shoot and see if they notice anything.

One way to start breaking this is to take portrait orientation shots with the shutter releasea and camera upside down from what you are used to doing. The camera is pain to hang on to, it can be done and you'll force yourself to hold the camera more steadily.

I worked with a photographer not long ago that would lean into a shot just as they released the shutter. Yes, their focus was off just a 'little' bit, and with some setups, a lot!!

Good luck!

[opus]

Well I do have a lot of straight shots too, so it's not something I *always* do, but more than I'd like!


I noticed in some of the shots that my crookedness in actuality "straightens" the faces to the same level. Look at the second picture. The father of the bride is massively tall, while the groom is quite short. I made them the same size, at least horizontally.


I do shoot both ways, actually, in vertical shots probably 60% with my trigger finger at the bottom, 40% with my finger at the top. Maybe 1% of the tilts are the opposite direction. And I'd say 90% of my shots are just fine. But that 10%, unless I left room around the subject for cropping, which I tend to frame pretty tightly, gets ugly.

I'll post another thread with some of my better shots.

[Frog]

I forgot about that leveling tool of yours grandpaw.
Please send one asap......the check is in the mail.

[EOSThree]

I have to be very careful to frame level. If it's a quick grab shot, it's always tilted about a degree and a half.

[another view]

Just thinking - I'm guessing that you (opus) held the camera vertically with the shutter release up. I guess we're not used to holding our hands up at different levels - on a horizontal shot your right hand is higher than your left. Right hand isn't quite high enough so the shot isn't level. Maybe?

[adina]

Hey! Where have you been!

[Asylum Steve]

What the heck is wrong with me?...

KC,

You have what doctors and theologists refer to as acute horizontus flubulitis, more commonly known as hilter-kilter syndrome.

The heavily comedic aspect of your brain causes your perception of the "real" world to be slightly off-balance. Sorry, there's no known cure.

Well, I mean you could try being serious all the time, but that treatment hasn't been proven to really work... :cryin:

As for me, I've been told I have a cute, uh a cute, er...you know, that part of me you can see when...

Eh ok, let's not go there...

[Asylum Steve]

Every single shot I have is tilted to the right about 1.4-2 degrees...

In your case I'm afraid it's because the wind catches one of your ears as it cascades around your bald...oh, what the heck. I'll be nice...

I have no idea why that happens, Seb...