Tuesday Tip: On the Tilt

Lately I have been thinking a lot about photo composition. I have a HUGE list of posts that could be written on some of these thoughts. To start of I wanted to explore horizons a little bit more. In one of my first photography classes I was shown a picture of a swimming pool that had a slightly tilted horizon in the distance, then the same scene was shown photographed with a straight horizon. As students, we were asked to respond to these photos one at a time. We then compared the images and decided which one we preferred. Until that point in time I had never really thought about horizon lines and how they effect the balance of a photo. For even a point and shoot photographer this little tip can completely change the way your photos look and feel to the viewer.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

And here is my PERSONAL opinion on horizons. I like them straight (parallel) and occasionally I like them very tilted. I rarely like a photo that has a slightly tilted horizon.

Here is why:

a horizon that is straight (parallel to the top and bottom of the image) across is not distracting. It leaves the viewer 'alone'. So the viewer can view the subject more effectively. straight lines are calming, they are solid and soothing to the eye. They are simple. I almost always shoot with the 'intention' of having a straight, non distracting horizon.

However, sometimes I really tilt my camera to create an extremely angled horizon. I do this in pictures that I feel should have some sense of movement in them. I LOVE to do this when I am taking a picture of two people looking at each other, or about to kiss. I feel that it signifies that movement and emotion between the two. A tilted horizon is very distracting and it forces the viewer's eye to move more rapidly and less predictably over the image. It creates movement.

I try really hard (sometimes to no avail) never to shoot a picture with a 'slightly' tilted horizon. To me a horizon that is only sightly tilted looks like an error. As if the photographer was trying to take the picture with the horizon shown straight (parallel with the top and bottom of the image), and botched it. I do this sometimes, and it totally bugs me.

That being said: I was on a website the other day and an inspirational and amazing photographer that I admire has a ton of photos on her blog with 'slightly tilted' horizons. . . and I liked them. Somehow she did it in a way that it defiantly didn't look like a mistake. it was awesome.

anyways, I just wanted to get y'all thinking a bit about composure. let me know if this tip makes any difference in your future photos :)

PS. this post was not posted on Tuesday because on MONDAY my motherboard fried, literally. Now I have a new motherboard in this old laptop. Thank Heaven for warranties.