Holding your camera level

[Wirefox]

Plus, I can't stand trimming pixels off my 10.1 megapixel images.

Not much point having all those pixels if you cannot trim a few. I have often wondered where all those trimmed pixels go. I suspect there is like a big pixel landfill where they eventually rot down into a electronic mulch. You could always recycle them into a collages and sell them to ageing eco warriors as desktop backgrounds.

Seriously though I suspect nobody on this forum will count your pixels to make sure you are not short changing us. There are forums where there are people with Phd qualifications in pixel counting but it has little to do with photography. As Colin has said above change your viewfinder screen if it worries you. I used to have a bridge camera with a thirds screen and it was quite useful when mounted on a tripod otherwise I found I had enough to think about.

Steve

[revi]

Geoff, your image brings to mind another problem I sometimes have. Sometimes I use the waterline/horizon in the distance to judge how level my photo is before taking it. However, sometimes (actually, most of the time) the waterline/horizon isn't perfectly perpendicular to me, so I can't use that to judge; sometimes it's SUPPOSED to be a slightly slanted line in the photo.

Isn't the horizon supposed to be always at eye level, and therefore straight and, well, horizontal?

[neverhood311]

Isn't the horizon supposed to be always at eye level, and therefore straight and, well, horizontal?

Sorry, I shouldn't have used the word 'horizon.' I think a better way to put it would be 'treeline.' That's not always level.

[PopsPhotos]

Now you're just taking the Pisa!

Well, I can't get it home delivered.

Pops

[Geoff F]

Geoff, your image brings to mind another problem I sometimes have. Sometimes I use the waterline/horizon in the distance to judge how level my photo is before taking it. However, sometimes (actually, most of the time) the waterline/horizon isn't perfectly perpendicular to me, so I can't use that to judge; sometimes it's SUPPOSED to be a slightly slanted line in the photo.

Yes this is often a problem. A seascape horizon should always be level (except for the earth's curvature of course) but riverbanks etc can be totally different, which is where a vertical line is needed. And beware the obvious risks of wandering around beside water with a camera to your eye when searching for a level guide - you can easily find yourself, plus camera, very unlevel !

I did mess up another few shots recently. It was our Regatta's Pavement Drawing Competition and I made sure that I was straight with the roadside yellow no parking lines. But realised too late that, like riverbanks, the lines weren't really straight and building verticals were now at 45 degrees.

[rhadorn]

The question was about a sturdy tripod. Due to great variations in market availability, the best is to go to 2-3 good shops and ask for advice. Sturdiness is a criterion, weight may also be one, as well as price and type of head. A tripod is useful independently of the horizon problem.

I myself try to take the pictures with the aim to print them as I took them. I strongly support that way of doing things because it is one aspect of making the picture as you take it, as you do for the exposure values.

I experience myself that stupid problem with the horizon, discovering on my computer whole series of pictures all going down the same side... The only remedy I know for this is thinking about it while taking the picture... as I have to think about a lot of other things. This is one thing I like in photography: having to think about what I do. Using a tripod may give the time to ask the important questions before taking the picture - and answer them; so about the horizon. But the tripod will not put your camera level: it will just hold it as you set it!

Now, apart the fact that my head is certainly leaning to one side, there are a lot of shooting situations, where the multiplicity of lines around really don't help to hold the camera level. In many situations, the picture may be better if you don't hold the camera level but carefully choose the angle. So, it is quasi a necessity to think about what graphical effect is to be achieved in the picture.

Taking the picture downwards or upwards (I don't know the English technical word) has also consequences on the vertical lines. Depending on the setting you will have to accept a leaning horizon to have acceptable vertical lines.

I took a lot of pictures this summer with a 17 mm lens on full frame. Since the wide angle exaggerates the perspective, a slight change in the position or angle of the camera has huge consequences on the picture. I started taking pictures of the same subject (1) with the camera level on both horizontal axis and (2) with some some angle to accentuate perspective effects. This also helps me thinking of the position of the camera in the first place and to make a real choice about the appropriate position (level or not, level on one axis or both).


Reto

[rpcrowe]

If you have time in your shooting, try to survey the edges of the frame before shooting. This is most easily done when I am viewing through the viewfinder. I really haven't used the "live view" capability of the 40D at all.

Monitoring the frame line will also prevent objects from intruding into your image that you don't want to show; such as tree branches or portions of individuals near your subject.

However, when shooting fast, I don't always have time to monitor the frameline. Just holding the camera level from side to side will have to suffice.

If your images most often tilt to one side or another, it may be that you are physically holding the camera at an angle rather than straight. Shoot a closeup image of yourself in the mirror. You might find that one side of the camera or another is lower.

I had been having problems with my 30D images which were often tilted to one side or the other. The culprit in that case was the Eyepiece Extender EP-EX15 which I had on the camera. After I removed this eyepiece, the images magically came out straightened.

[rpcrowe]

rhadorn...

The fact that your images seem to tilt to one direction indicates to me that you are not physically holding your camera level but, that you have it tilted to one side or another.

I suggest that you take a series of shots of your image shooting into a mirror. You might then discover how the camera is tilting. It would then just be a matter of concentration to avoid that natural tilt.

Often it is easier to get a level shot when you support the camera from beneath the lens with your left hand while holding the camera's grip and operating the shutter release button with your right hand. A naturally level hold will go a long way to ensuring fewer tilted images.

I had some very prominent problems with tilted images when shooting with my Canon 30D. I traced that problem to the addition of a Eyepiece Extender EP-EX15. Removing that extender corrected the problem instantly.

BTW: I can more easily see my frame in the viewfinder of my xxD cameras than I could when I used a 350D. The viewfinders seem larger and brighter. I can also see the frame in my 40D better than in my 30D.