2 Horizon Photography Tips for Better Landscape Photos!
Landscape photography is among the most beautiful photos you can produce. But it is not easy! To get decent results, you need to know, understand, and follow tons of rules. Individually, none of them are much of a problem, but they combine to create powerful landscape photos. Today’s photography tips are each one of those small steps to greatness.
In yesterday’s photography tip, we discussed using the right kind of light. Today we will talk about a couple of compositional elements.
Photography Tip #1: Make sure your horizon is straight!
This seems so basic as to be almost unworthy of mention, but it’s amazing how often the horizon line isn’t straight! True, when you are shooting a mountainous scene, with hills, valleys, etc., sometimes it can be difficult to determine where the horizon is. But you have to find it and level it. It becomes more obvious when you look at a photo of the ocean. THAT horizon absolutely must be level and often it is not. It’s a bit disconcerting to see it leaning to one side. Is the ocean coming out of the frame? It only takes a second – double check and make sure your horizons are level.
Photo Tip #2: Make sure your (straight) horizon is not dead center in the photo. You need a “star” for the viewer’s eye to fixate on.
This rule is easier to violate than the level one horizon, and is violated left and right! Having the horizon in the center of the frame feels good, while having it off center is counterintuitive. But it is a compositional must! When the horizon divides the photo in half, it’s very static and boring! There is no emotion or drama. The viewer does not know what is important and on what should he focus his attention: the sky or the ground?
Where should they look?
Any winning photo in a contest needs a “star”. In this case, what is the star? Is it heaven? Did you want to show the viewer the dramatic clouds with golden light kissing the background?
If so, lower the horizon to about the bottom third of the frame and make the sky the star.
Is the star the ground? Did you want to draw attention to some natural feature or possibly a placid lake?
Raise the horizon to about the top third of the frame and accentuate the ground. There was SOMETHING that caught your attention when you decided to take the photo… What was it? Make sure to raise or lower the horizon to make it the star; then make sure the horizon is level! These two photography tips will help you become the best landscape photographer in your area.
