crooked landscapes!

markbarendt · Aug 5, 2013

StoneNYC said:
I can't tell if you're being facetious or not...

Oh Stone, Stone, Stone.

cliveh · Aug 5, 2013

He is young and has much to learn.

MattKing · Aug 5, 2013

StoneNYC said:
I can't tell if you're being facetious or not...

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I think Stone may be spending too much time around models

StoneNYC · Aug 6, 2013

MattKing said:
I think Stone may be spending too much time around models

Haha it's true... I have... They are all so young and it might be getting to me...

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Nige · Aug 6, 2013

sounds like a picture of a brick wall might be in order... to determine if the film gate is out of wack with the viewfinder?

E. von Hoegh · Aug 6, 2013

mporter012 said:
Yes, this is kinda what I thought. Maybe others can speak to why a level necessarily corrects the issue?

Mark

It doesn't neccesarily correct the issue, especially if it isn't calibrated to the filmplane.But a lot of folks seem to think it's magical! By this I mean the bubble being centered when the filmplane is perfectly vertical and level left to right. If you are photographing a building (for instance) which is perfectly plumb, level, and rectilinear, just true the filmplane with your level. But what if the buliding isn't perfectly plumb? This is where the gridlines save you.

markbarendt · Aug 6, 2013

E. von Hoegh said:
But what if the buliding isn't perfectly plumb?

This is just one example of the many places a level will lead one astray.

cliveh · Aug 6, 2013

markbarendt said:
This is just one example of the many places a level will lead one astray.

I rest my case.

erikg · Aug 6, 2013

Unless one is doing science there comes a point where being correct doesn't necessarily make the best picture. That's where art comes in.

markbarendt · Aug 6, 2013

erikg said:
Unless one is doing science there comes a point where being correct doesn't necessarily make the best picture. That's where art comes in.

That's why I've been suggesting that the OP find somebody with a view camera and go play.

One truly fun aha moment I had was when I figured out I could, in the right scene, skew the perception of how tall a mountain looks and make a more interesting print by manipulating the tilt (front to back pitch) of the back to get an effect similar to what a painter like Georgia O'Keefe could get and still get a visually level horizon by manipulating the tilt of the film right or left (roll).

With a bit of experience using a LF camera and then seeing some of O'Keefe's paintings that were next to her own photos of the same scene it suddenly clicked for me and opened a whole new set of opportunities. One where level by the bubble isn't even relevant.

erikg · Aug 6, 2013

markbarendt said:
That's why I've been suggesting that the OP find somebody with a view camera and go play.

One truly fun aha moment I had was when I figured out I could, in the right scene, skew the perception of how tall a mountain looks and make a more interesting print by manipulating the tilt (front to back pitch) of the back to get an effect similar to what a painter like Georgia O'Keefe could get and still get a visually level horizon by manipulating the tilt of the film right or left (roll).

With a bit of experience using a LF camera and then seeing some of O'Keefe's paintings that were next to her own photos of the same scene it suddenly clicked for me and opened a whole new set of opportunities. One where level by the bubble isn't even relevant.

Agree completely. Even if you don't stay with it long a view camera can teach you so much, to say nothing of the upside down image, a revelation in itself.

Ken Nadvornick · Aug 6, 2013

Not sure I didn't miss something here. All my LF kits have a small level. That way if the compositional need arises I can level the camera. If it doesn't arise, the instrument can stay in the bag. I'm certainly not going to use it for every photo. Or not use it for every photo.

It's quite portable and light weight and not much of a bother to carry, after all.

Ken

markbarendt · Aug 6, 2013

You didn't miss anything Ken.

I'm not suggesting that levels have no value, just that they only provide someplace "close" to start correcting from. Levels can't see the exceptions in front of the camera.

StoneNYC · Aug 7, 2013

cliveh said:
I rest my case.

So you're going to blame all your crooked shots on the architect now? :munch:

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lxdude · Aug 7, 2013

StoneNYC said:
So you're going to blame all your crooked shots on the architect now? :munch:

Could be the builder's fault...

StoneNYC · Aug 7, 2013

lxdude said:
Could be the builder's fault...

If we are going to go through the trouble, why not just go to the top and blame THE "Architect" .... If you know what I mean... White beard, probably senile which is why it's crooked... Haha

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markbarendt · Aug 7, 2013

lxdude said:
Could be the builder's fault...

When I was a kid way back when, living in So Cal, my brother actually spotted a new office building from the freeway that he said was crooked. Turns out he was right, and he was not the only onle that noticed, not long after that the newspaper did a story about the building.

Builder's fault as I remember.

lxdude · Aug 7, 2013

StoneNYC said:
If we are going to go through the trouble, why not just go to the top and blame THE "Architect" .... If you know what I mean... White beard, probably senile which is why it's crooked... Haha

Because it's probably the builder that's crooked!

E. von Hoegh · Aug 10, 2013

markbarendt said:
This is just one example of the many places a level will lead one astray.

The OP uses 35mm. None of my 35s have anyplace to put a level except the accessory shoe - and only one of my 5 35s has an accessory shoe.

markbarendt · Aug 10, 2013

E. von Hoegh said:
The OP uses 35mm. None of my 35s have anyplace to put a level except the accessory shoe - and only one of my 5 35s has an accessory shoe.

The base, the back, the front of the lens against the filter ring, the side of the camera?

E. von Hoegh · Aug 10, 2013

markbarendt said:
The base, the back, the front of the lens against the filter ring, the side of the camera?

I'm talking of a permanent mounting, like the one on my Linhof STIV where it's built into the body. There just isn't room on a 35. I never use the level though, I prefer to use the gridlines I put on the GG. I do use the two tubular bubble levels built into the tripod head to set the tripod up level.

markbarendt · Aug 10, 2013

I prefer the grid lines too.

crooked landscapes!

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