With the unofficial end of summer this weekend feeling like we’re sailing into the sunset, I thought I’d say a word or two about the horizon line. Most of us will spend at least some time outdoors, perhaps a beach, a lake, a pool or park, taking some pictures. A good tip is to keep and eye on the horizon and avoid placing it in the dead center.
Try to compose your photo so the horizon line is either towards the top or bottom third of the frame. If you keep it in the center, it just cuts your image in half and looks distracting. Instead, make the horizon line part of your composition by adding people, a landmark or another special feature to sit mainly in the other two thirds of the image. I’ve demonstrated here by showing two different themes using the same subject of a sunset with a very obvious horizon line. The secondary focus in the above image was the sailboat, and below the secondary feature is the water. Notice how the sunset in the last image just holds no real interest or depth and actually looks unbalanced because the top half looks empty.
So don’t forget to keep an eye on the horizon and here’s to happy sailing for anybody lucky enough to be on a boat this weekend! Hope we all can get some rest from our labors!
Place the horizon line in the top or bottom third of the frame.
When the horizon line is dead center, the image lacks depth and interest.
