OCA Course: Positioning the horizon.

With only a thin slice of sky, the image is given great
depth to the land, and a strong impression of distance.


Foreground interest is now more apparent, and gives
more information about the rural nature of the subject.



The land becomes more the focus of attention, and an agri-
cultural scene is revealed. It typifies the area well.


The horizon at the mid point gives a good overall impression
but is neither here nor there for land or sky. I don't think
this really works.


With the horizon just below mid-point, a much better
general impression of the overall landscape is given -
essentially agricultural. Waiting until the clouds passed
may have improved the foreground here, but I think the
composition works.


Moving the horizon slightly up gives an impression of a
wide-open landscape, but there is no foreground detail.
This also works as a sky-shot.


This first image with the horizon at the bottom is really a
sky picture, but the strip of land links the sky to the earth
and "orientates" the scene. We have relatively open country-
side and some "big" skies. This works purely as a "sky-
shot".


I've had several attempts at this one, most of which have been marred by mist or dead skies. The morning I went to the coast, there was a sea fog and the horizon was non-existant. These images were taken mid-morning, facing north, from the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds overlooking the Vale of Pickering towards the North York Moors on the horizon. All images were taken on a 17-40mm zoom, with a tripod, and I used a polariser to improve the sky.
With the exception of the "horizon in the middle" image, I think all the others work well depending on what one intends to show, the sky, the land, or a balance of both.