Anyone got a plumb bob?

[Ron Evers]

Being a surveyor in a previous life, I have a penchant for straight lines, level horizons & plumb verticals. This pic is a partial view from our living room widow. I used one tree as a vertical reference when I took the shot & then to my chagrin in viewing the pic on my puter the other trees were out of plumb. The pic as presented here is "adjusted" to average out the verticals.

 

[BTilson]

Nice yard! Nice shot as well. I like it. Only thing I could think of would be that maybe the colors could be a bit more saturated? I still definitely have a beginners eye, so take anything I say with a grain of salt!

 

[Turnerea]

What methods do you use to rotate pictures? I haven't looked into this in great detail, but the only thing I've used in Gimp is a free rotate- I'm guessing that there must be something more accurate. Is there a way to overlay a grid, and then type in the # degrees you want to rotate in PS or Gimp?

 

[dklod]

Unfortunately, the dominant tree is the one that has probably grown off vertical because the others all look ok. I would just rotate the image to make the main tree vertical and put them side by side to see which one looks better. Vertical lines and straight horizons are big deals to me too, more so than any other guide. This pic is going to probably eat away at you to a degree because there is always going to be something not right with it, even though its a great shot.

 

[dklod]

What methods do you use to rotate pictures? I haven't looked into this in great detail, but the only thing I've used in Gimp is a free rotate- I'm guessing that there must be something more accurate. Is there a way to overlay a grid, and then type in the # degrees you want to rotate in PS or Gimp?

Gimp has a grid. Its in one of the menus, cant think which one, I dont have that program here at work.

 

[Ron Evers]

What methods do you use to rotate pictures? I haven't looked into this in great detail, but the only thing I've used in Gimp is a free rotate- I'm guessing that there must be something more accurate. Is there a way to overlay a grid, and then type in the # degrees you want to rotate in PS or Gimp?

Being a poor pensioner I used the free download PhotoScape, it affords almost infinate adjustment in rotation.

 

[Double H]

I would have leveled by using the bird house.

 

[Ron Evers]

Thanks for your comments folks.

When we bought this property it was bald, no trees or shrubs. I have been planting trees for 35 years. Some folk say our property looks like a park now.

 

[Big Mike]

Sometimes I cheat and use Photoshop to skew or transform and image, to make things look properly vertical.

In Photoshop, it's quite easy to rotate the image precisely. You use the measure tool and draw snap two points along a line that should be vertical or horizontal...a water horizon for example. Then you rotate the canvas and choose the arbitrary option...it will already be set to the exact angle that you need so you just hit OK.

 

[patrickt]

Where I live, Oaxaca, Mexico, items like light poles are rarely straight. Add to that what happens when I get in a hurry and I couldn't get by without being able to correct the horizon. I just use my Lightroom.