Usually the horizon level is a thing i care for.
I realized, for instance, that in this picture my horizon level is slightly tilted. That is a mistake i made.
Also, sometimes, this can be a good thing, if you break it on purpose.
This horizon is diagonal, to better fill the frame:
And here i turned it 90 degrees. Look at the effect:
@anazad511 I always try to keep horizons level but it is sometimes quite difficult to do. When I got m my new netbook I found that Windows Live Gallery has a facility that fixes a horizon horizontal with one click and it's been an invaluable tool.
If your camera doesn't have a built-in level, a hotshoe spirit level is one of the cheapest ways to improve your landscape photography. No more cropping your composition when you find you need to rotate the image, and no more wondering exactly what was level if there isn't a clear horizon.
Perspective distortion occurs if you point the lens up or down, and is particularly noticeable with wide-angle lenses. Where possible, keep the lens parallel with your subject, but often that isn't an option. Perspective distortion can be easily corrected in post-processing, but make sure you don't overcorrect -- if you are photographing something above or below where the camera is, it will look offputting if it has totally parallel sides.
Unless I see that the photo was tilted on purpose for composition or dynamics, tilted horizons drive me crazy!! I usually try to get my horizon straight to begin with, but if I notice that it isn't perfect when I upload the shot, I generally use the level effect in whatever processing program I'm using to correct it.
I have just been given the hot shoe spirit level in with my gifts from Santa ... he always said I was caggy handed and majority of my shots have always been off ~ even when I thought I had the horizon level ... maybe I need one for my eyes too :-) ~ I have yet to use it but I am sure it will help me
you can lose a lot of pixels if you straighten in post production. I find it's worst when I'm shooting architectural photos, as I will often clip the edge of a building when I straighten.
one of my favourite and most used features in my Nikon D600 is my built in horizon. I have a spirit bubble on my tripod, which is pretty precise, so I tend to use that first, then check the horizon.
I added that feature to My Menu, which I have wired up to one of my function buttons. On the odd occasion that I use live view (like when shooting really low or really high), I can hit the Info button once or twice to bring it up in the live view LCD.
I currently have the horizon wired to my other function button, too, which I can use to bring up a +/- horizon indicator in the viewfinder, which helps me keep a straight horizon when shooting handheld.
@cameronknowlton - This sounds amazing. I will need to find out if I can do it with my Canon. I didn't know that it looses a lot of pixels when straighten... Great info, I have a lot to learn. Thanks.
@anazad511, if you're using Photoshop CS6, you can *sometimes* use it's content-aware fill tool to 'fix' the missing data instead of cropping out pixels. The content has to be pretty predictable, but I was able to recover a *lot* of missing data during an interior architectural shoot in a synagogue (Romanesque Revival, so lots of arches).
your mileage may vary, but it's the #1 reason that I upgraded from CS4.
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I realized, for instance, that in this picture my horizon level is slightly tilted. That is a mistake i made.
Also, sometimes, this can be a good thing, if you break it on purpose.
This horizon is diagonal, to better fill the frame:
And here i turned it 90 degrees. Look at the effect:
Maybe I am too OCD and like things in line.
I need to remember this tip, I always forget to make sure my horizons are straight!
I personally prefer this style, although there are several others:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Camera-D-SLR-Hot-Shoe-2-Axis-Double-Bubble-Spirit-Level-/160589000298
Perspective distortion occurs if you point the lens up or down, and is particularly noticeable with wide-angle lenses. Where possible, keep the lens parallel with your subject, but often that isn't an option. Perspective distortion can be easily corrected in post-processing, but make sure you don't overcorrect -- if you are photographing something above or below where the camera is, it will look offputting if it has totally parallel sides.
one of my favourite and most used features in my Nikon D600 is my built in horizon. I have a spirit bubble on my tripod, which is pretty precise, so I tend to use that first, then check the horizon.
I added that feature to My Menu, which I have wired up to one of my function buttons. On the odd occasion that I use live view (like when shooting really low or really high), I can hit the Info button once or twice to bring it up in the live view LCD.
I currently have the horizon wired to my other function button, too, which I can use to bring up a +/- horizon indicator in the viewfinder, which helps me keep a straight horizon when shooting handheld.
your mileage may vary, but it's the #1 reason that I upgraded from CS4.