UKC

In reply to Martin Brown:

Perhaps they're just not very good at photography

In reply to Martin Brown:

I can't remember if it was Ken Wilson or John Cleare who said a good climbing photograph conveys the 'feel' of a climb, not the reality. I agree.

In reply to Martin Brown:

I'd say that most of the time (and probably in these examples) tilt is not deliberate. When composing the shot it is natural to line up against natural lines appearing in the frame. In the Scavenger shot, the corner line is approximately (although not quite) parallel with the vertical side of the frame. Ditto the slab in the Baggy photo. I doubt the photographer was aware that they were doing this at the time. Sometimes it takes a conscious effort to align the photo correctly.

So I would say: more likely poor photography than a deliberate attempt at deception.

In reply to El Greyo: Does no one accept the Wilson/Cleare opinion?

In reply to Al Evans:

not really; to subjective

One climber's gripper is another's comfort zone

By all means angle the shot to show the exposure, weather etc which are real but tilting is daft

In reply to Al Evans:

sure I do AL, but I still like a picture to look nice

In reply to Al Evans:
Of course a photo should reflect the climb, if you're taking a photo to document the route.

If you're taking it for the sake of pretty pictures then do what you need to make it aesthetically pleasing.

If you're taking it to make yourself feel hard, then tilt, photoshop and do whatever you want to.

Tilt the camera if you want to, but if you're passing something off as gnarley when people know that it's not, you're going to look a proper knob when caught out by people who know it's a slab!

In reply to Al Evans: I think I'm becoming Jaded as I don't find climbing photos particularly stimulating anyway.

In reply to Al Evans:

We need a copy of Cleare's picture from rock climbers in action in snowdonia, the one caled something like 'falling into a shaft of light, on the first pitch of Wasp?

That picture was one of the defining ones in my life, both from a climbing, art and photoraphy view.

Tilt? Now which way up SHOULD it have been?

In reply to Al Evans: Yes, I'm sure that is the case sometimes. But I'd say that it would take a good photographer to pull it off effectively and certainly Wilson and Cleare are of that calibre.

More often though, for your average photographer, however, I'd say a lot of tilting isn't actually deliberate. I reckon that's the case for the examples in the OP.

In reply to Al Evans:
a good climbing photograph conveys the 'feel' of a climb, not the reality. I agree.

So do I Al.

How many pubs in the Lakes have photos showing the crag with a valley WAY down below, implying the climber is suspended 100s of feet in the air, when in fact they are 3 feet above a grassy ledge, artfully NOT included in the frame.

Super climbing shot, just economical with the truth!

TTG

In reply to Al Evans:
I agree Al it's the difference between the spirit and some cold documentary evidence.
So the pictures are tilted, I can see that, does it make the image better or worse? are the climbers trying to con anybody? Don't think so....)

In reply to O Mighty Tim:

The hand traverse on Corvus would be a good example of that. Some people might consider it somehow misleading not to include the ledge just beneath - but really it's just a case of composing a shot that gives the most pleasing result - and it certainly conveys the "feel" of that part of the climb very well.

In reply to DeadSquirrel:
I agree.
The standard photographic omission of the large ledge below the hand-traverse implies an "out-there" feel.
The truth is far from that.

In reply to Neil Conway: Whats that huge roof in Yosemitie called, the one friends initially made possible, is it Seperate Reality? I haven't done it but it always looks miles above the ground in Pix , I dont know how true it is but Ron once told me that they always just frame the ledge below it out, and its tilted.

In reply to Al Evans:

Well he was pulling your leg - true it starts in cave, but the lip is miles off the ground, and the roof is as good as horizontal!


Chris