TAOP Positioning the horizon.

Outline: Photograph a clear horizon through a series of exposures, positioning the horizon at different levels in the frame.

I decided to undertake this exercise at a nearby beach, to try and capture a semi - interesting landscape. It's the first place I thought of when I saw 'horizon'.



Image 1 - High

  This image shows a lot of the foreground, in this instance a lot of the grass. I'm not sure this works very well as your eye tends to direct to the sea and the sky, which takes up quite a small portion of the image. I feel the foreground is way to prominent in this image.


Image 2 - Above centre

  I like this image. With the horizon slightly above centre, you get a good sense of depth from the foreground but the more interesting part of the image (the sea and sky) have an equal balance to the grass. However, I still feel that the grass is very overpowering in this image where I'd like that extra bit of focus on the sea.


Image 3 - Central

 This image works really well. The horizon is placed centrally giving a great balance with the composition of the image. I like that the sea has the main focus because the sky and grass seem to be in equal proportion, which means that neither one takes more focus.

Image 4 - Below Centre

 With the horizon placed slightly below centre, the sky is now starting to dominate the image. I like the effect in this image because of how beautiful the sky and clouds look in this sequence of pictures. As the sky is more interesting than the immediate foreground, I think this positioning works very well. We still get a good sense of the foreground and the sky is not too overpowering.

Image 5 - Low

I do absolutely love this picture because the sky is beautiful in it. However, I have to visualise the effect of the horizon if the sky was plain and grey (as per usual in Wales) or completely blue. I don't think the image would work as well as some of the others in those cases. The sky completely dominates this image and unless there was something that you really wanted to capture in the sky, I feel that the prominence of the sky takes focus off the rest of the image.

Conclusion:
Of all my images in this exercise, my favourite has to be image 4. I like the feeling of depth we get from the slight prominence of the sky and that even with this, the focus is not taken too much from the foreground.
I can only assume that, had I photographed a different landscape, my decisions may have been different. It may depend on any additional details being photographed in the landscape as to which horizon placement would be best suited.

Afterthought:

I found some pictures I've taken previously and thought I'd share them here to reiterate my point made above.



Image A

 The above image confirms my original conclusion. I like how the low horizon really emphasises the sky in this image. With how dramatic the clouds look here, this placement works incredibly well.


Image B

  On the opposite end of the scale, this image contrasts my original conclusion. The high horizon here works well to highlight the foreground of the image and give the image more depth.


Image C


The above central horizon here along with the object placement in the bottom of the frame works well to dramatise the depth of this image. It was taken on Pendine Sands which, when the tide is out, is a huge beach. At the time I took this image, I really wanted to show how far away the shore line was and I think that the fact the horizon is higher does emphasise this.