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Halt – Horizon Police
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Anyone read amateur photographer this week?
One of the writers had the gall to declare that distorted horizons should be left alone because the corrected straight ones look “un-natural”. :shock:
Andy
Without seeing the article, it’s difficult to comment. However, if you take a shot featuring the horizon with an ultra wide angle lens it’s going to look curved; if you take a shot with the horizon at an angle (with the horizon not in front of you but not beside you either, i.e., halfway between, for example) then it’s going to appear at an angle in the shot; if you take a shot with several apparent horizons (perhaps a mountain scene) then there is no single correct horizon, IMHO.
I don’t think that it’s fair to say that every horizon must always be perfectly horizontal. However, I do think that if a horizon isn’t right and doesn’t sit well in the scene it will stick out like a sore thumb.
I don’t think there is a wrong or right answer to this.
Cheers,
Thorsten.
Yes Thorsten,
Once again, my leading post is designed to stimulate discussion rather than to declare absolutely what is right and wrong.
I agree with you on this that there is no right and wrong answer. Although I would say that if the true horizon is visible I usually like to see it straight unless an obvious fisheye effect is part of the photograph.
Andy
I personally think crooked horizons look (to use the writers word) “un-natural” but I suppose to each their own!
Then again all horizons might look un-natural to me as I have a slight astigmatism. :shock:
Ooops!
Andy, I guess I neglected to include that little point in my CV for the job as deputy! :oops:Astigmatism? As Alan Sugar would say, You’re fired !!
Actually so have I !!!!, You’re hired !!
Sometimes really crooked horizons can work. I’ve seen SteveD post a couple of super ones. But you know the type that we need to stamp out Carl !!
The curved horizon is slightly different. The curvature of the earth is no excuse, especially if your horizon curves upwards into outer space !! But as Thorsten says, there is no right or wrong answer. But I suppose that if it looks wrong then it is wrong.
Andy
But what is the horizon was naturally crooked …. the world aint flat and there are slopes out there.
The only places where you can see the true horizon are where the sky meets the sea or sometimes in very flat areas of the world.
The visible horizon requires a different approach.
Sometimes the visible horizon can play tricks with our brain and seems at odds with the true horizon. Where both are present in a photo then the photographer has to make a choice.
To keep the true horizon looking natural one might make the visible horizon look un-natural. This may make the photo look odd.
I generally correct for the true horizon. If it is not present then I don’t care what the spirit level tells me as long as it looks right.
Andy
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