Remember the good old photography days?
Film camera in hand, you would see that perfect landscape, seascape or sunset and shoot off several shots.
Perhaps a couple of weeks later, once you had returned home and finally finished that 24 or 36 exposure film, it was off to the photo-lab to get the film processed.
You eagerly open the packet of photographs, looking for that superb seascape you took, knowing that it would almost certainly be taken up by National Geographic for their monthly magazine spread.
What do you find?
A not too bad photo, but the seascape horizon is crooked, here's your excuse, I hear you say.. "Well when I took the shot I was standing on the side of a sand dune and quickly trying to get that perfect shot while the little sailboat was still in view".
Does this sound familiar to all you budding Adam Ansels and/or Lord Snowdons?
The photo is relegated back to the packet never again to see the light of day.
I had many of those packets of not so perfect photos until the digital photography age arrived.
The Digital Darkroom has arrived
The advent of the digital camera and in fact, before that, computerized image manipulation software such as Adobe Photoshop has completely revolutionized the way we can now resurrect a stunning image from what at face value might have appeared to be just one of those snapshots to be relegated to the shoebox under the stairs.
What I'm going to show you in this article is just one method of taking a mundane snapshot and producing a great shot in as little as five minutes.
The example I'm going to use, is one that I have seen so many times, and have already mentioned above, namely, shots that have crooked horizons, whether this be a landscape, seascape, sunset or whatever.
The source of the image may have come from a scanned negative, scanned print or digital camera image all converted to an image format (most probably .JPG pronounced "jaypeg") that can be opened in your image manipulation software.
Correcting a crooked horizon
The human eye is remarkably perceptive at picking out features in a photograph that are made up of essentially straight lines and that those lines are not parallel, either horizontally or vertically, with the overall print itself.
These straight lines may well be the horizon, but they may also be an object in your photo that has straight lines such as buildings or walls etc...
I will be using Adobe Photoshop CS, but almost all other image manipulation software packages have similar tools so the method described should be repeatable with your own software package.
The method used will employ a little known relationship between two Photoshop functions, the Measure tool and the Rotate Canvas command.
Step ? 1
Open up your image in your image editor (in our case Photoshop) and select the Measure tool which if not visible on the Photoshop toolbar can be found by hovering your mouse over the Eyedropper tool and "left clicking".
Watch the other options window "fly-out" and select the Measure tool.
Step ? 2
Interestingly enough, we are not actually going to measure anything in the real sense of the word, nor use the Measure tool as it is usually used (i.e. measuring the distance between two points within the photograph).
With the Measure tool active, "left click" and "hold" on a spot on the left hand side of the photo (remember our example is a seascape) where the horizon meets the sea.
While still "holding down" the left mouse button, drag to the right hand side of the photo and find a corresponding point where the horizon meets the sea and then release the mouse button.
What happened? .. Well you will see that a white line has been drawn on top of the photo with what looks like little "+" anchors at each end. The line is parallel with our crooked horizon.
Step ? 3
Now the marvel begins!! Select the Image->Rotate Canvas->Arbitrary ? command and the Rotate Canvas pop-up window will appear.
What you will notice (in the case of Photoshop anyway) is that it has "pre-filled" the pop-up rotate options with the exact rotation information to correct the crooked horizon, 1.5 degrees counter-clockwise in our example on our web-site. Click OK and see what happens ..
The photo has been magically rotated the right amount to correct the crooked horizon!
Step ? 4
All that is required now is to do a tight "crop" on the overall photograph and save it.
And there you have it!! Less than five minutes of digital image manipulation to take that mundane snapshot into a photograph that is very pleasing to the eye.
If you find the steps taking are a little hard to understand in this text based article, you can click on the link at the end of this article to see the same method explained on our website with the aid of example graphical images.
© Gary Wilkinson 2005 - All Rights Reserved
You can see this correction method complete with example images at Cor recting Crooked Horizons in Photos
Feel free to re-print this article provided that all hyperlinks and author biography are retained as-is.
Gary Wilkinson is a photographer, photographic restorer and the owner of a photographic retail business.
He is also the publisher of the http://www.restoring-photos-made-easy.com website, where other methods of correcting common photographic restoration problems are discussed.
Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... Your lens is an essential element to good photographs. It's... Read More One of the biggest debates in the photography world is... Read More Anyone with the right camera equipment, and the necessary skills... Read More Dots Per Inch is a useful measure of relative resolution.... Read More Understanding light is one of the very basic principles of... Read More Disposable cameras are cheap and easy to use. If you... Read More Wholesale disposable cameras are disposable cameras bought in quantity. Bulk... Read More Most digital cameras today boast of greater resolution and picture... Read More A photo buyer calls for a picture of pigs. It... Read More Too many people have the idea that being paid to... Read More Think about Laurel and Hardy for a moment, or Charlie... Read More Having an efficient work flow is essential for photographers. In... Read More Babies make the best and the worst subjects to photograph.... Read More So you have this great digital camera and you've taken... Read More There are major obstacles to overcome to get into nude... Read More Early cameras of the 16th and 17th century were able... Read More We all love our animals. They do such funny, adorable,... Read More Imagine taking your new digital camera on a vacation and... Read More Basic CompositionNow that you are beginning to understand how your... Read More Sony was the first company to introduce digital cameras into... Read More A digital SLR camera or a single lens reflex (SLR)... Read More Photography comes from the Greek words meaning "light writing" and... Read More Your first thought when you read "Alligator Farm" might be... Read More The vast beauty and richness of the desert can be... Read More ContentEven if you feel that you already know what kind... Read More
Adsense
websites
Tips for Purchasing a Digital Camera Lens
Digital Cameras vs. Film Cameras- the debate goes on
Start Your Own Photography Business from Home
Why 1.5 Megapixels is Enough
Basics of Photography
The Benefits of Disposable Cameras
How to Buy Wholesale Disposable Cameras
The Truth About Pixels - Part I: Digital Cameras
The Mysterious Powerful Element of a Picture That Sells
Start Up a Travel Photography Business
Black and White is Beautiful
Digital RAW Workflow for Beginners
Photography Business: Taking Baby Photos - for Professionals & Families
Guidelines for Printing Great Photos at Home
The Naked Truth on Shooting Nudes
History of the Camera
How to take Great Photos of Your Pet
Getting the Most From Your Digital Camera Memory Card
Photography 101 Part 2
Sony Digital Cameras - Always On The Innovation Frontier
Move Up to the World of the Digital SLR Camera
Photography: The Basics
The Alligator Farm - Home to Beautiful Winged Creatures
The Arizona Desert Museum
Photography 101 Part 3
Do you like to take photos? Are you always standing... Read More
The digital camera is but a technological advancement of the... Read More
In the age of home phones and 8x10's we all... Read More
Last month we bought the Canon Powershot A80 online for... Read More
Imagine being able to frame all your own photographs just... Read More
Saturate yourself with your subject and the camera will all... Read More
There is one simple technique any body can do to... Read More
Choosing a digital camera can be a daunting task with... Read More
Like most folks you have probably have organized and sorted... Read More
Several years ago, I met a fellow photographer - albeit,... Read More
Photos are a great way to share your travel experiences... Read More
Digital photography promises much. Store your photographs on your computer,... Read More
In a traditional camera, the lens was king. If the... Read More
Family vacations, summer weddings and family reunions are in full... Read More
Every Mom wants to take great photos of their babies... Read More
Disposable cameras are cheap and easy to use. If you... Read More
That's right, you go through all the trouble of making... Read More
The most important part of buying a digital camera is... Read More
Your lens is an essential element to good photographs. It's... Read More
Digital cameras are available in several price ranges today. They... Read More
If you have hopes of becoming a professional photographer, or... Read More
Photography is a diversified field of creating a spectral variety... Read More
Understanding light is one of the very basic principles of... Read More
Before you are able to take the kind of photos... Read More
About Personalized Photo Calendars:Photo Calendars are 12-month, wall-hanging calendars that... Read More
Photography |