Fixing a lop sided image of ocean meets sky

[leon]

Hi Guys i was out last night taking some lightning and managed to capture a few, however because of my location and pitch darkness i was unable to get a nice straight line of the Ocean, hence some of my shots are a bit lop sided so to speak. :sadeyes:

Is there any way of fixing this, or is there any program that can help in this situation. :shrug:

Maybe some members here might have a trick or two up there sleeve, and assistance would be much appreciated. :D :D

Many thanks. :thumbsup:

Leon :thumbsup:

[MrB]

Hi Leon,
If you shot in RAW, Adobe's ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) which comes with Photoshop has a leveling tool(Edit: Called Straightening Tool, 7th icon from the left at top of screen, keyboard shortcut: A), Lightroom might have it I think(Being almost identical in features to ACR)

*Edit: Ok, have found it in Lightroom if you are using that: Got to Tools --> Crop (keyboard shortcut: R) and you can either grab a corner of the image and drag it to change the angle, or use the angle slider in the tool window. The grid overlayed on the image will help. Not as nice as ACR's 'Straighten tool' with which you simply click on one side of the horizon and drag a line to the other side... very easy.
Edit again(!) I have just discovered that the straighten tool does indeed exist in Lightroom(I'm new to Lightroom), click the little Spirit Level icon in the Crop tool window. I didn't realise that was clickable, thought it was just a little graphic to show what the slider does!
http://www.nathangriffin.com/technical/how_to_straighten_horizons_in_light room.html

If however it is a JPG image, you can use Photoshop's Ruler tool to level:
http://www.thephotoargus.com/tutorials/get-it-straight-using-the-photoshop-ruler-tool/

There is also the Trimming/Angle Adjustment tool in Canon's Digital Photo Professional, but I find it fiddly to use. Not a huge fan of Canon's software.

[michaellxv]

DPP can rotate the image for you. Hit the Trimming/Angle button.
Or just about any other image editing application should be able to.
What do you currently use?

[Dennis]

Hi Leon

Setting up the camera:

Get a 3 Axis Flash Hot Shoe Bubble Level (http://www.camerasdirect.com.au/3-axis-flash-hot-shoe-bubble-level-spirit-level)such as this one from Cameras Direct (http://www.camerasdirect.com.au/3-axis-flash-hot-shoe-bubble-level-spirit-level)and use a red torch to level the camera.
If your camera has an electronic level, use that when setting up the shot.


Photoshop:
Use the “Ruler” Tool to draw a straight line that is parallel with the horizon and then select:


Image
Rotate
Arbitrary
And then accept the recommended angle and direction and this should straighten the horizon.

Cheers

Dennis

[Octane]

As mentioned above, DPP's trimming/angle tool is all you need.

You can even select your crop ratio, either from the drop down list or by right-clicking on your image (once in the trimming/angle tool) and selecting your preference.

Tick the Grid check box to overlay a grid, and use the slider to change the size of the grid so that one of the lines falls on the horizon line. It's a simple matter of moving the slider or entering an angle value to get your horizon straight.

DPP will honour your lens aberration corrections while performing the rotational adjustment.

H

[leon]

Well thank you indeed, that gives me lots of options, i knew i could count on you guys.

Leon

[leon]

Well guys this is very unfortunate for me that is, I only have a very early version of PS and an older version of DPP and it seems that none of the items you guys suggested are available to me.

Unless I am looking in the wrong direction.

Leon

[mithrandir]

Leon, GIMP will do the rotation for you, pretty much the same way as H said to do it in PS.

[DavidTrap]

Its a pretty elementary tool in PS Leon - bound to be there, even in the older editions. Try - Image - Image Rotation - Arbitrary. You might have to rotate with trial and error, rather than drawing a line across the horizon and letting the software work out the angle.

DT

[acropolite]

Leon, you can download the latest version of DPP and upgrade as long as you have a version installed, the latest versions are all backward compatible.

[Octane]

What Phil said. DPP is a free download.

Here you go, here's the URL to make it easy: http://support-au.canon.com.au/contents/AU/EN/0200251701.html

Go down the bottom and tick the box saying you understand blah blah blah and then download.

You need to have a pre-existing install of DPP on your machine for that update to work. If you don't, let me know, and I can send you a link on my site where I keep a resident copy of the disc.

H

[astronobob]

I do as David Trap's last suggestion, Menue: Image - Image Rotation - Arbitrary, after a while you get used to guessing pretty close, I know ;)
In addition to being satified with leveling, (in Ps) I zoom in about half, then grab the photo and drag the horizon down to the Window Frame :P
Even fussier, slide side to side and make additional 'Arbitrary' decimal point adjustments, eg 0.2 deg anticlock or what is needed ?

Another way is to Prepare on site, take a solid exposure, high ISO, Full appeture, and a few seconds, or what ever is needed; to easily see the horizon, Live View is very handy for this too if not too dark, then adjust camera level accordingly, obviously need to again with different compositions :thumbsup:

[MrB]

The newer bodies make this procedure very easy with an in-camera electronic level.
Not sure which bodies have it, but the 60D(+Da), 5D mkIII, 6D and 7D definitely do.
Not sure if any other makes do(Nikon/Sony etc?), but it is a very handy feature.

[leon]

You guys are just to good to me thanks heaps.

Leon

[leon]

Thanks for the link H, the new version is loaded and is certainly different then the one i had, it even has that extra button you were talking about :thumbsup:

Leon:thumbsup:

[Octane]

Glad to hear you've got it all sorted, mate!

It's worth also updating your EOS Utility software (just in case you decide to shoot tethered/remotely).

H

[leon]

Will do that to H, thanks again.

Leon