Camera technique problem - help correcting

I can hear some of the answers already, but its one of those unconscious
things that I do when taking photos that I need some help correcting.

So I'm out hiking, I have my Lowepro bag on my hip and I unzip it and take
out the camera for a quick shot, I hold the camera a little unsteady since
I'm exhausted from the hike itself and snap the photo onto my digital.
Here's where the problem comes in, I get the pictures home and the image is
canted at about a 4 degree angle. Its consistent too. Almost all of my
hiking images are canted at a little bit of an angle. Is it the way I lock
my wrist to steady my hand, is it using the viewscreen rather than the
eyepiece, is it the footing (I'm rarely on flat terrain when taking hiking
photos)?

Any first hand experiences out there to help me correct this problem?

If you want to see the last batch of photos I'll provide the link to them on
Imageevent, but I didn't want to turn this thread into some "Man you got
funky <insert facial feature here>" insult war.

 

Funny you should post this. We took a boat cruise not too long ago to view
the beautiful homes along the coast of SW Florida and, of course, the
sunset. Darned horizon images are all canted. Four degrees seems to be
about what I experienced (No, I was not drinking). I have been thinking
about this from time to time and at least I'm glad to know that I'm not
alone. Any scientists out there?

 

I also shoot a lot in the wilderness, and I am sometimes out of breath when I
suddenly have a photo subject. On my digital camera, I am forced to view the
subject with the viewfinder, and there is no LCD preview screen. Sometimes I
try to shoot with my prescription sunglasses on, and sometimes they are off, so
that gets me different results. I have the diopter setting for my vision with
sunglasses off, so that is my own fault. Whether I use a tripod or not, I still
get a few shots that are off-level. My quick release mounts all have little
spirit levels in them, but they must lie to me. I also have a hardware store
spirit level that hangs on a carpenter's line, and it does a better job of it.
You can have the viewfinder's focus screen replaced with one that has a grid of
lines on it, if this is a decent camera, but you did not identify it.

This is especially difficult to get right when the ambient lighting is low,
like at sundown but you are not shooting toward the horizon.

When all else fails, I use the Image Rotate Custom function in my image editor.
That will crop off some of the edges, but it works.

---Bob Gross---

 

I developed a similar problem once after upgrading to a larger heavier
camera body. I started intentionally tilting the camera a little bit in
the opposite direction every time I shot, and eventually got back on the
level.

Lisa

 

South of the equator they tilt the other way.

 

I'm certainly no expert but can't you put your image on a larger
canvas before you do the rotate, thus avoiding any clipping?
I thought I had read something to this effect in my Photoshop
Elements 2.0 manual, and I presume the same holds true for full Photoshop.

-- Ron

 

You can merely choose "rotate canvas" / "arbitrary," and it doesn't clip.

 

Ron, use your head! Yes, you can put the image on a larger canvas, but then
after rotation you're going to have some blank corners. You've never done this
before, have you? No, I don't use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

---Bob Gross---

 

Wide angles are also very hazardous, because even the tiniest rotation
will be painfully obvious in the final image. Lines in the viewfinder
are extremely handy, and an actual level of some kind is best for
consistently good results.

That's what I do. If the image has a lot of long vertical and
horizontal lines, it can be extremely difficult to get it perfectly
level in the field, unless you have a spirit level or other objective
reference (gridlines, etc.).

 

Common optical illusion if looking at a horizon that isnt level when you
arent standing on level ground, your mind will create a false level (though
some people are good at running seascapes downhill when standing on the
beach).
Even though tired, try to compose as carefully as possible.

 

It is you. We each tend to favor one arm over the over(for most people
it is the right one). If you want things level, go to a hardware store and
get a mini level. Some tripods have mini levels built into them.

 

But you still have to crop afterwards.

 

Just tilt your head a little.

Really, I realized that after I posted. That's the second mistake I ever
made in my life.

 

I really appreciate all the pointers here guys/gals/its/things/others. I
can see how I might be looking at the LCD crooked, its off to the left of
the lens so that might be part of it. Basically it sounds like I need to
take a boatload more shots and just get used to proper positioning of my
hands and head during a shoot.

 

You got that right. I recently aquired a 28mm and the man a lot of
shot were crooked. Took a while to remember to concentrate and stay
level.

Steve

 

For about $20 you can buy a bubble level that will fit into the camera shoe.
I use this technique all the time for my panoramic pictures. After framing the
shot, lower the camera slightly so you can see the level and then shoot. If you
have an lcd screen you can do both at once.

 

Perhaps, but who wants to stick their sweaty dirt stained face on the back
end of the camera in order to take a shot? That whole reason why I use the
preview screen is so that I don't have to jam my nose into the preview
screen looking into the viewfinder. Honestly I don't even know why Olympus
decided to include a viewfinder for the C720, its got a about 1 mm of eye
relief and when wearing glasses its even worse - couple that with the fact
that I've probably done about 8 miles and 6000 feet elevation and look like
the sweat monster. I like the preview screen, it gives me good stand-off
distance from the camera - besides the viewfinder on an Olympus C720 doesn't
show me anything that the preview screen doesn't.

 

You can rotate the pix with many image editors. If the rotation is
consistent, many programs can do it as a batch operation. I guess you could
put a 4 degree wedge under one side of the monitor.

 

Agree. But the mystery is why they don't try to find better placements
for the LCD. After all, the viewfinder is close to useless on many
cameras, and in those cases I'd rather do without it. Getting a
swiveling LCD helps, and a swiveling body, as in Nikons, helps too. But
there are other solutions worth trying out. One thing I would like to
try is an LCD embedded at 45 degrees in the position of the viewfinder,
with a hood for shading and protection - i.e. LCD and EVF combined.

 

No, I haven't had to, which perhaps proves that I'm very level-headed

Checking the reference in the PSE manual, I see that it's really
aimed at straightening prints that have been skewed when scanned on a
flatbed scanner.
So now I begin to comprehend the difference between straightening a
crooked print and straightening something within a print.

-- Ron