The Tilted Horizon

     The number of pitfalls that can besiege a landscape photographer is seemingly endless, especially for beginners.  One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a photograph with an obviously tilted horizon.  Without a doubt it is one of the most common mistakes I see.   This is mind boggling to me because it is also the easiest mistake to fix.  Even the most rudimentary of photo processing software has the ability to rotate a picture any degree and then crop it.  And yet time and time again I see pictures by talented and experienced photographers with tilted horizons.
     The best way to avoid a tilted horizon is to use a bubble level.  Many tripods and tripod heads come with a bubble level built in so you can be certain you are level.  You can also buy a small bubble level and attach it to your camera.  More recently, some of the top of the line DSLR's come with a simulated bubble level inside the viewfinder.  This is especially useful if you are not shooting with a tripod.  
     If you do make this mistake don't fret, the good news is that it can easily be corrected.  Simply rotate the image the appropriate amount and then crop.  Alternatively, much of the software out there has automated leveling tools.  The one downside is that you will lose a bit of the image in the cropping process.  Still, this is much preferable to seeing a titled horizon.

Uh oh, tilted horizon.  Oops!

Rotate until horizon is level...

Crop, and voila