Requesting feedback - Landscape

[CIC]

Hello fellow photoartists

There was a discussion regarding the attached photo with a very senior and accomplished photographer from my country. He also officiates as a judge in different photo contests recognised by the bodies like the FIP, FIAP etc. According to him, the enclosed photograph has a tilted horizon. Frankly, it is very unlikely for me to make a rookie mistake such as that. Moreover, I can distinctly remember to have used the in-camera level indicator and viewfinder grid lines to make sure that the horizon is levelled. As I voiced my disagreement regarding this with him, he told me to check the photo with Ps' ruler tool!

Please note, as appears in the photo, the region is a high-altitude Himalayan pass and there was no natural level ground as such.

I would request the experienced members to examine the photo which is enclosed and comment on this matter.

Thank you all.

[Manfred M]

Looking at this image, I would agree with you that there is no level horizon line in this image and unless there is a large enough body of water to provide a reference, it is difficult to establish a horizon line in this type of shot. I would not criticize that aspect of this image.

Where I have an issue is with the lack of a subject or centre of interest. The prayer flags are quite distracting, especially the soft green one near the bottom, right of the image. Most of the prayer flags I have seen are not nearly as saturated as the ones in this shot and I wonder if you have pushed the saturation a bit too hard. The sky and ground do not look quite right to me.

The human visual system is drawn to highly saturated colours, so the prayer flags that are close to the edges of the image tend to pull the viewer's eyes right out of the shot. The blue / cyans of the sky look like they are bleeding into the clouds. so that looks a bit strange too.

P.S. My credentials are likely along the lines of the person who commented on this image; I am often invited to sit on local, regional and national juries for photographic competitions. CAPA is the Canadian FIAP representative organization, just as FIP is for India.

[Astro]

Srijan, to my eye there is no 'tilted' horizon. That said, being didactic about the use of the word horizon there is no 'nautical' horizon to base an opinion on. (The mountains do seem right to me though.)

I would suggest that the lines of flags do create a sense of disorientation, which I quite like, but might not have been to the judges taste. If so that might have been a more informative criticism.

I like the image, but I can imagine it creating a lot of debate. To my eye, living int he rather cloudy, overcast, and dull Uk, the colour, particularly in the sky appears very intense, but that may be an attributeof the altitude since the foreground appears very similar in tone to mountain lanscape I often visit in Snowdonia (Wales).

[BobGilbody]

Hello Srijan,

I'm not experienced. Well not experienced in taking photos of mountains and flags.
I do have some questions though:
1] It seems to me that the comments about 'level horizons' is meaningless fluff from the judge. Is the judge a photographer that does commercial work for a spirit level company?
2] What was your purpose entering the photo in a competition [ was it a general comp or was it more a call for images to sell the place as a tourist destination? ]?
3] Are you hoping to sell the image?

Hello Astro,

How's things in Brum these days? I was at Aston Uni from 1969-72. Watched 'spaghetti junction' being built. How I lasted three years is still a mystery to me. Most of the time I was either drinking or hung over.

Bob