Beechcraft From Germany, joined Nov 2003, 808 posts, RR: 52 Posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 1031 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW PHOTO SCREENER
Hi all,
back by popular demand, the masterclass
This time it´s all about leveling. So, how do you do it? Which Software do you use, which technics? What references do you normally use? What about photos that look unlevel, even though technically they are fine? What about level issues at specific airports? Which motives would justify deviation from standard leveling? What about all things level related?
Questions over Questions....
Rembember, this should be a learning environment, there are no dumb questions!
cheers,
Denis
That's it! You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college!
Dvincent From United States, joined Jan 2007, 1203 posts, RR: 8 Reply 2, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 992 times:
Verticals on buildings to me have been the most reliable guide to leveling. They're the ones I recommend to use when leveling. Horizontals are more likely to be skewed in comparison to the photo plane in my experience. But when all you've got is a horizontal, you use it.
Instead of using the grid in PS, I use the guides feature (turn on rulers then drag guides from the ruler). This lets you arbitrarily check anything for evenness, not just where the gridlines are. I do not level in PS, though, since I use a RAW converter (Lightroom) I use that app's leveling feature, which has a line you can draw that will automatically level the image to that line. Adobe Camera RAW can also do this.
Photoshop can do a similar auto-leveling thing. Choose the ruler tool (it hides under the eyedropper), then draw a line to a vertical or horizontal you want to level. Then go to Image > Rotate Canvas > Arbitrary... and it will automatically fill in the proper number of degrees into the rotation field.
I would personally advise against using things like lampposts, utility poles, flag poles, beacons, localizers, or signposts in leveling. These may not be level themselves! Especially the farther from the center to the frame they are.
New England Airports! Sony Alpha a700, Sigma 50-500, Tamron 70-200 f/2.8, Tamron 17-50, Minolta 100-200 f/4.5.
KLM772ER From Germany, joined May 2006, 608 posts, RR: 23 Reply 3, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 989 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUPPORT
When ever possible I would try to level the shot to some verticals visible in the middle of the frame! If not possible I stick to some at the outer frame or some horizontals.. whatever is available.
If taken a wide I angle shot, I try to make the verticals at both ends of the frame look the same way leaning.
As for checking the verticals I use the guides in PS, but most important for me is the appearance of the shot. In the final version it needs to be looking level to me. Because in the end the viewer is not using any ruler or anything else, he is simply looking at the picture
As for the technic, I normally use the ruler tool to get a rough overview about how much rotation is needed, and than I go back to the original and adjust the amount as necessary to get it level using the above reference..
I always rotate the picture only once to minimize the loss of quality while rotating...
Cheers
Björn
Penguins are like pilots who lost their Medical...
Samuel32 From Switzerland, joined Jun 2005, 99 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 979 times:
I draw a line with the ruler mode in PS and then go under rotate canvas -> arbitrary. I use what ever is present in the picture, most of the time buildings. I use verticals when-ever possible.
Question:
How would you level a shot where there are no vertical or horizontal references, except the taxiway which the A/C is on, and supposing its a 3/4 view shot, not a 90* sideshot. Is there still a way to use the taxiway as reference even though its almost a diagonal line in the picture?
KLM772ER From Germany, joined May 2006, 608 posts, RR: 23 Reply 5, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 975 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUPPORT
Quoting Samuel32 (Reply 4): How would you level a shot where there are no vertical or horizontal references, except the taxiway which the A/C is on, and supposing its a 3/4 view shot, not a 90* sideshot. Is there still a way to use the taxiway as reference even though its almost a diagonal line in the picture?
In this kind of picture I would use the airplane itself as a reference and try to make it look level. What helps me very often is to use for example the vertical of the landing gear or any other "verticals" of the plane..
But as said the best way to level these shots is to trust your eyes to simply make it look level...
Björn
Penguins are like pilots who lost their Medical...
Psych From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2004, 2635 posts, RR: 64 Reply 6, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 975 times:
For me there is a key issue with leveling: whilst what appear to be horizontal references might in fact slope - such as a runway surface - verticals should always be vertical (unless, of course, they are known to lean ). A trained eye can spot a leaning vertical at 30 paces. You can level a vertical and leave a horizontal sloping, and get away with it, but you can't level a horizontal to leave a vertical leaning. That said I think it is important to check the implications for one of altering the other.
As Dan says, the sides of buildings should never lean - even towards the edges of your crop - unless you have a very wide angle lens (though I agree verticals towards the centre of an image are ideal). They should be an ideal reference - BUT - they need to be significant in the picture. Many of us have been fooled by zooming in to some small vertical in a photo and getting the grid lines or the measure tool out on that (I always use the latter). I have learned that what appears to be perfectly vertical when zoomed in at 300 or 400% might be slightly off when back at normal viewing.
Also - once you have looked at thousands of images your eye really does pick up small variations much more easily. Although it sounds petty 0.5 degree rotation can make a photo look significantly different. It still surprises me how much background canvas will show if you rotate an image by even that small amount and save it again.
In the end A.net likes to see photos that look level. In the absence of a vertical reference, use something that implies a horizontal reference if you have one - the edge of a runway perpendicular to the photographer is a good example - and get that level, even if in your heart of hearts you know it does slope. You should be safer that way.
Jez From United Kingdom (England), joined Feb 2005, 33 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 15 hours ago) and read 882 times:
For me, if there is no hard evidence (horizontal and/or vertical references) in the shot that the image is not level then I tend to give myself (as the photographer at the time the shutter was fired) the benefit of any doubt.
ThierryD From Luxembourg, joined Dec 2005, 1599 posts, RR: 55 Reply 8, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 13 hours ago) and read 860 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUPPORT
Lots I could say about levelling as it's really haunted me for some time but since most of it has already been said here: Level Discussion (by ThierryD May 19 2007 in Aviation Photography) I'll refrain from posting it all again.
In a nutshell: level with reference to reliable (big) verticals or the horizon; if none of those is available level according your feelings (needs some experience and a trained eye).
LeadingEdge From United Kingdom, joined May 2007, 55 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 847 times:
Quoting Psych (Reply 6): In the absence of a vertical reference, use something that implies a horizontal reference if you have one - the edge of a runway perpendicular to the photographer is a good example - and get that level, even if in your heart of hearts you know it does slope. You should be safer that way.
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