The following is a direct copy and has been Pasted in for future reference from the Art of Photography coursework PDF Doc. (pasted in Maroon)
6 photographs
In designing a photograph there are countless situations in which you will need to divide the picture frame into two or more fairly distinct areas. This may be because the scene has different blocks of colour, or has clear areas of light and shade. The commonest is a view that includes the horizon, which naturally divides a landscape between sky and land, usually in a more-or-less straight line. If there are no obvious points of interest in the view, the horizon line can be the most important element in the picture.
Find a viewpoint outdoors that gives you a reasonably interesting landscape in which there is an unbroken and clear horizon. View the scene through the camera and consider the different positions in which you could arrange the horizon line in the frame. These go from right at the bottom of the picture to right at the top, but how many distinct positions can you see? Now take a photograph of each, so that you end up with a short sequence in which the horizon is ranged from top to bottom. It is important to think about each placement of the horizon as you do this, and note whether, at the time, you think it works.
When you have the processed photographs in front of you, look at the images on the opposite page.
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Equipment
Nikon D4
Nikon D800E
24/70 lens
80/400 lens
Tripod
Method & Approach
In this exercise I took several pictures around a local lake at varying times of the day, early morning, during the afternoon and early evening (before sunset). I have deliberately included the third image in this series of pictures as I wanted to break the rules a little when shooting horizons, I wanted to try something different and apply thought from an earlier exercise where we were asked to rotate the camera.
Please see pictures and captions below for visual understanding.
Note – all pictures have been compressed hence there will be a quality reduction when enlarging.
High horizon – This picture was taken early morning with a 24/70 lens, focal length of 40mm and aperture of f22. I wanted to try and create that classic picture of the jetty going out to sea. In framing the shot I positioned the end of the jetty horizontal and in the follow up picture of this I made the water horizontal (not the jetty) but it didn’t wok as well as this picture. Its because the end of the jetty is visually the most immediate to our vision, the other way around made the jetty sit awkward, it looked badly framed.
Mid horizon – This picture was taken as the sun was about to set with a 24/70 lens, focal length of 66mm and aperture of f3.5. In this picture I like the silhouetted trees and the character of the water. I particularly like the light shimmering and the water textures on the opposite side.
Angled horizon – This is the picture I was referring to in the Method & Approach section. It was taken later on that day after the above picture with a 24/70 lens, focal length of 70mm and aperture of f3.5. I mentioned earlier that I wanted to try something different by rotating the camera body and in doing so my thoughts were to draw an imaginary mean (a line) across the bulk of the trees and make that my new horizon. I believe the thought was there but it doesn’t work. It plays tricks on our vision and as mentioned above it looks badly framed.
Low horizon – This picture was taken again with the 24/70 lens, focal length of 70mm and aperture of f8. This is the most dynamic of all the pictures and the most pleasing when enlarged. I had by chance picked a day where hundreds of birds where on the water and occasionally taking flight. It gives the picture more interest, the only downside is the overhead wires.
Mid to high horizon – This picture was taken in the afternoon with the 24/70 lens, focal length of 34mm and aperture of f8. I choose this shot of tree stumps as a good example of “bringing the eye into the frame” We can clearly see the horizon placed just above centre, in return giving the subject in the foreground and the water behind enough room. I also liked this shot as it included an “implied division” seen in the water on the left-hand side.
Mid horizon – This picture was taken with the 24/70 at a focal length of 24mm. The “just above middle” horizon is slightly obscured by the larger hawthorn. The content of this picture for me is one of shock as I have never seen the water level so high in the neighbouring river, as we can see it has risen above it own bank and is over spilling into the lake. With regards to one of the previous lessons this was definitely a wide angle shot.
What have I learnt from this exercise
From this exercise I have learnt that if a horizon is framed at an angle with out a dominant subject in the picture / foreground it looks wrong or as I said earlier badly framed.
My Reflections
This has been a good exercise and learning opportunity, quite often I look at a distant horizon and don’t recognise the potential for a picture, often the thought of horizon pictures brings just sky and water or sky and fields. This exercise has taught me to look harder and try to notice / find more opportunity, get down low and see if it creates excitement looking through the viewfinder from unseen angles etc.
stingray493 