Why are tilts so bad?

[EchoingWhisper]

As the title said, why are tilts so bad?

 

[Overread]

Tilting isn't bad - in fact its very good. However a lot of people that "discover" tilting only go as far as to read the how to of the method rather than learning about composition in a wider context. This combined with it being a "new " thing for them results in them making lots of tilting photos where the composition and the photo is not helped by and if often disadvantaged by the tilting of the camera.


Tilting is like any other method - its good when used in the right place at the right time. Researching and learning about artistic composition in general will give one a good overview of compositional elements and thus better equip a person for when they can be use various methods (such as tilting).

 

[table1349]

Tilting for a lot of new photographers is often like a child who discovers fashion and getting dressed for themselves. They will think it looks very good to wear green plaid pants with a orange stripped shirt and a purple poke-a-dot sweater and they want to do it all the time. As Overread said, it is just another composition tool that to be used at the proper time in the proper manner.

 

[EchoingWhisper]

Thanks for your reply. Because I used to take photos with tilts, and thought it was bad when I see some criticism in the forums. Thanks for the lesson!

 

[Overread]

The key isn't just to pick up on "tiling is bad" "HDR is bad" etc.. but to search for the better crits which post "why" they are bad with specific reference to the photo itself. That gives you the reasoning, which is far more important than the answer itself since it lets you understand better the why - and with that you can put that to more use in your own photography.

 

[bennielou]

Don't ya know? Tilts make photos "artistic". Hehe. I was copied into an e-mail a few days ago by a MOB who was looking at photography websites and was totally baffled by the "every damn photo is tilted" deal. The MOB was asking a floral vendor why so many photographers were doing it. The MOB thought it was stupid.

However, as someone who sometimes crops in wild ways, and tilts on occasion, I can say, that when applied correctly, tilting can imply movement, or enhance it. It can also give a more photojournalistic eye WHEN USED PROPERLY.

Just like with everything in photography, a little goes a long way. It's not going to be "unique" or "artful" or "photojournalistic" if every shot is the same. I know of a photographer where on her website, every dang photo has a sunburst. It looks cool at first, but after the 10th of 200 photos in the same vein, the effect goes away, and the viewer is left with, "really? is that all you can do?"

 

[Big Mike]

I often critique slight tilts. Not intentional tilting...but when someone is trying to take a level shot and they mess it up (and don't fix it). That drives me crazy....especially when there is water on the horizon. It creates a visual incongruity that just ruins the image.

It doesn't help (or does help) that I'm an Engineering Designer and I look at straight lines all day...so when see a slighting tilted horizon in a photo...it stands out to me.

 

[bennielou]

Hi Big Mike,
I totally agree with you here. If it's a slight tilt, it just looks like lazy editing to me. If there seems to be a reason behind it, or it enhances the photo in some way, it can be very dramatic. But again, IMO, a little goes a long way.

 

[g-fi]

I just have to say, I credit Big Mike with turning me into a Horizon Nazi. When I first joined here, I never really took notice of horizons or relative straightness, but after reading for awhile now that's one of the first things that I look at in a landscape and it's become one of my OCD fixations when editing. MUST BE STRAIGHT.

 

[nickzou]

I haven't been here long but I haven't seen a C&C where anything positive was said about a tilt, intentional or otherwise.

 

[joealcantar]

Tilts are not bad , just done badly at times.
-
Shoot well and stay level headed, Joe

 

[gsgary]

Tits are great, or did i read it wrong

 

[Overread]

Tits are great, or did i read it wrong

I think someone needs glasses

 

[Diddy2theJJ]

Tits are great, or did i read it wrong

LOL! ( . Y . )

 

[Diddy2theJJ]

Yeah...I do agree that tilts tend to get abused. Bennielou also makes a good point about the sunburst or lens flare. There's another photographer here in town (I really wish I could post a couple of her pics but I know it's against forum/copyright rules), but she tries to be really 'artistic' by using lots of lens flares...but it gets to the point where almost every photo has them and some of them you can't even see the people's faces it's so bad. AND she charges alot for her work, more than most in town. One of the photos I saw of her's recently she had a girl laying down playing her guitar, and cropped the photos so her head was off the side of the photo with her feet in the middle. It looked like a crime scene lol. Anyway, done with my rant