View of Lake Superior from the shoreline of the Croftville Road Cottages. Small waves break on large brown boulders in the foreground. At the point where the blue lake meets the light blue sky, the horizon line tilts to the left. Photo by Mary Warner, July 10, 2023.
art family travel

Large Lake Horizon Tilt

by Mary

I recently returned from a family vacation to Grand Marais, Minnesota. Grand Marais is one of the small towns on what is affectionately known as the “North Shore,” which runs along the northwestern edge of Lake Superior.

Daughter had reserved a couple of cabins at the Croftville Road Cottages just north of Grand Marais, which served as our base camp during our stay. The cabins were directly above the shore, with paths down to the rocky shoreline. Erik and I could look out the sliding glass door from bed and see the lake each morning.

Between our day trips to two area state parks, the lighthouse at The Point on the lake in Grand Marais (also known as Artists’ Point), and the shoreline near our cabins, we had ample opportunity to take photos.

I was happily clicking pics of Lake Superior when I noticed something curious. Many of the photos that featured the lake meeting the horizon showed the horizon line at an uncomfortable tilt.

I’m not used to taking photos on a large body of water where the sky and water meet for a long span, so it didn’t dawn on me to look for this through my phone as I was lining up my shots.

Most of my photos are taken on land and I subconsciously line up the photo so the (often imaginary) horizon line is straight, like the following view across the top of Devil’s Kettle Falls at Judge C.R. Magney State Park.

View across the top of the Devil's Kettle Falls at Judge C.R. Magney State Park, Cook County, Minnesota. The foreground shows large boulders in the water, with the falls starting to the left. A clear blue sky and green pines and deciduous trees serve as the background. July 8, 2023.
View across the top of the Devil’s Kettle Falls at Judge C.R. Magney State Park, Cook County, Minnesota. The foreground shows large boulders in the water, with the falls starting to the left. A clear blue sky and green pines and deciduous trees serve as the background. July 8, 2023.

Here are some of the photos showing the large lake horizon tilt.

Large flat rock outcroppings on the path to the lighthouse near The Point on Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota. The rocks are primarily red, with the rocks underneath the water green with algae. In the background, the lake tilts to the left at the horizon. On the right side of the photo, a crocheted blue sea turtle pokes its head out of a black backpack. Photo by Mary Warner, July 8, 2023.
Large flat rock outcroppings on the path to the lighthouse near The Point on Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota. The rocks are primarily red, with the rocks underneath the water green with algae. In the background, the lake tilts to the left at the horizon. On the right side of the photo, a crocheted blue sea turtle pokes its head out of a black backpack. Photo by Mary Warner, July 8, 2023.

 

Photo of Lake Superior with large gray rocks in the foreground. Small waves from the lake are hitting the shore. The sky above is a lighter blue than the lake and has a few clouds. The lake at the horizon appears to tilt to the right. Photo by Mary Warner, July 10, 2023.
Photo of Lake Superior with large gray rocks in the foreground. Small waves from the lake are hitting the shore. The sky above is a lighter blue than the lake and has a few clouds. The lake at the horizon appears to tilt to the right. Photo by Mary Warner, July 10, 2023.

 

A view of Lake Superior near The Point in Grand Marais, MN. Reddish-brown rocks with a Cubist feel are in the foreground and along most of the left side of the photo. The lake is on the right and in the background, with a boat with three brown sails along the horizon line, which tilts to the left. Photo by Mary Warner, July 8, 2023.
A view of Lake Superior near The Point in Grand Marais, MN. Reddish-brown rocks with a Cubist feel are in the foreground and along most of the left side of the photo. The lake is on the right and in the background, with a boat with three brown sails along the horizon line, which tilts to the left. Photo by Mary Warner, July 8, 2023.

 

Lake Superior as seen from the shore beneath the Croftville Road Cottages. The shore is layered diagonally in the foreground with brown soil, white daisies, and gray rocks, which meet the water. Part of a tree is along the left side of the photo. The lake at the horizon line tilts to the left. Photo by Mary Warner, July 10, 2023.
Lake Superior as seen from the shore beneath the Croftville Road Cottages. The shore is layered diagonally in the foreground with brown soil, white daisies, and gray rocks, which meet the water. Part of a tree is along the left side of the photo. The lake at the horizon line tilts to the left. Photo by Mary Warner, July 10, 2023.

Seeing the resulting horizon tilt in my photos made me feel like things would fall out of the scene. I noticed in looking back through my photo gallery that most of my horizon tilts were to the left. (I don’t know what that might say about how my brain works.)

Once I realized what was happening, I had to make a conscious effort to correct for the tilt, which wasn’t always easy. As Erik pointed out, once you have a long horizon line, the curvature of the Earth starts becoming apparent, so you’ve got that to watch for, as well.

Here is a shot where I managed to get the horizon line relatively level.

View of Lake Superior from the Croftville Road Cottages shoreline. Much of the foreground of the photo is filled with large rocks dappled with sunlight. The blue lake meets the lighter blue sky at a level horizon near the back of the photo. A small hill of trees can be seen in the upper left of the scene. Photo by Mary Warner, July 10, 2023.
View of Lake Superior from the Croftville Road Cottages shoreline. Much of the foreground of the photo is filled with large rocks dappled with sunlight. The blue lake meets the lighter blue sky at a level horizon near the back of the photo. A small hill of trees can be seen in the upper left of the scene. Photo by Mary Warner, July 10, 2023.

I have quite a few more photos of the lake where I was successful in avoiding the tilt, but somehow those seem not quite as exciting as the ones with the tilt.

Interesting how one line in a photo can have such a dramatic effect.