Positioning the horizon

Horizons are surprisingly difficult to get right in images. It should be obvious but often the natural horizon level that includes the subjects to the best effect does not match the ideal placing for balance. There has to be a trade-off between getting a good balance (perhaps using the rule of thirds) yet ensuring the subjects are clear in the image.

I went to the ridge overlooking Bristol close to Lansdown racecourse. There are several lines of trees here that work well to demonstrate the dilemma mentioned. I wanted to find a horizon that was clear; ideally there might be some foreground interest but decided that might confound the purpose of this exercise so a crop of grass was deemed suitable. A slight added difficulty was shooting contra jour, meaning the exposure had to be reduced in order to avoid a burnt out sky.

The first image was taken at 1/500 f13, the remainder at 1/250 f9.5

The trees even before greening up make a striking backdrop to this image, leading away from the left.
This does not work well: the trees are not distinctive enough of a subject and positioned badly; the sky is uninteresting and there is no balance from the foreground. The horizon is too low.

What a difference! The foreground now adds some interest and colour - shame the field lines lead across the image rather then away to the distance but there is more depth and balance in this image with horizon positioned at about the bottom third line. The sky is better as well; easier to get more contrast.

This too works reasonably well- the foreground is now closer so we have more depth to the image as well as interest from the colour. Some interest from the sky is lost.

This looks like an image taken by accident; cutting the trees off does not work; the sky becomes totally uninteresting and there is no compensation in greater foreground interest.

Overall the second image seems the best.

Lessons learnt:

• Experiment with different horizons - it is not always the most obvious one that works the best;
• Unconventional placement can only work where there is an interesting foreground subject or, conversely, where the sky is a good background and we want to emphasise the sense of space and emptiness.