Inspiring

Question

Do you ever flip your images horizontally?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
March 25, 2019
6 replies
2625 views

I've been playing around with this 'technique' to see if (temporarily) changing the perspective (of a project you've sunk numerous hours into) will help lend new ideas/insight on how to further edit/fine-tune images.. I would consider it analogous to something like temporarily pitch-shifting a song you're working on up or down a semitone or two, to observe how you react.. I'm guessing it's the closest thing you can get to seeing your work again for the 'first time,' to try and gauge what your first impression might have been.. Has anybody else experimented with this? Do you consider it a useful tool? And do you use any similar techniques? thnx!

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War Unicorn

Community Expert

I flip images a lot during composition, not just horizontally. It's just a matter of vision.

D Fosse

Community Expert

FWIW, I've had F-triggered actions, no modifiers, for as long as I can remember. Of course, I can barely remember my own birthday, so...

D Fosse

Community Expert

I'm not sure I agree.

A key component in composition is movement. By convention we tend to read from left to right. So whether an element is placed left or right, can change it from leading into the image, to stopping the movement out of it. The whole dynamic changes.

Semaphoric

Community Expert

That's an issue with Japanese art, such as wood block prints. Japanese see things flow right-to-left, so Westerners will see them differently than the creators.

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

On Windows computer, hold down Ctrl + Alt + down arrow key. What a strange shortcut!

To revert, press Ctrl + Alt + up arrow key. It also works with left & right arrows though god knows why.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

There was a very influential book out some years ago called "Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain." It's in its 4th Edition now. According to the book, training your "right brain" to draw was a simple matter of turning work upside down.

https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

angie_taylor

Legend

I find reading upside down easier than reading the right side up! ;-)

Norman Sanders

Legend

Angie, the offspring of letterpress printers learned that skill while hand-setting foundry type and being reminded with the admonition: "mind your p's and q's."

Chuck Uebele

Community Expert

I'm with Norman on this. I too used to do 8X10 and 4X5 camera work, where the image was flipped and inverted. Good composition looks good right-side up or upside down. It does make you focus on the comp rather than the details.

JJMack

Community Expert

Flipping an image vertically and transforming the flipped image may make a good perspective shadow Flipping a image horizontally will make left right and right left things will be backwards. If you want to change the image perspective use perspective warp.

JJMack

Norman Sanders

Legend

It may sound odd but looking at the inverted image on the ground glass of my 8x10 view camera -- viewing it as an abstract -- was very helpful. It took some training, but in a short time I learned to see the image area as a composition of elements, evaluate light and color emphasis and the geometry and balance within the image area. It was analyzed apart from subject matter. If it seemed right upside down, those elements were usually first rate right-side-up. Of course, this was in a studio setting where there was full control of those elements. Now I no longer have the camera, the studio or the ability to take a flight of stairs two at time.

JJMack

Community Expert

Yes that image you see in you camera is also inverted not just flipped left is right and up is down and right is left and down is up

JJMack

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