horizon leveling

[adrhc]

Someone good pointed me that the horizon should be leveled in the picture below. If would be me to choose I wouldn't do that because the picture contains a very good reference about the vertical line: the standing girl. So, what would you do about this one ?

PS: or may be it's just a bad composition so there's nothing to do about the horizon ?

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Adrian,

Compositionally, on this shot I would suggest cropping about 20% of the image width off the right hand edge to place the girl on the right hand 'third' regardless of what is vertical/horizontal.

The water looks lovely,

[Tim Bond]

Adrian
Dave has the correct answer for this photograph. I love the water also, maybe sometime have the girl a little closer.
Tim

[Loose Canon]

Hi Adrian!

Nice shot this.

Just a Theory here and may not be something you would want to even consider.

But since the horizon line is negligible to begin with, and close to the same color as the water, what if it were just blended out altogether?

[adrhc]

Hi Adrian!

Nice shot this.

Just a Theory here and may not be something you would want to even consider.

But since the horizon line is negligible to begin with, and close to the same color as the water, what if it were just blended out altogether?

Yep, this is the result after trying to blend them; the problem is with that vegetation at the left side witch rest with a different shade; anyway now I think the best is to get rid of that vegetation in order to blend water and sky perfectly.

[Dave Humphries]

Yep, this is the result after trying to blend them; the problem is with that vegetation at the left side witch rest with a different shade; anyway now I think the best is to get rid of that vegetation in order to blend water and sky perfectly.

Yes, I can see that working.

So you can't 'cheat' and clone the right hand side's sea/sky over to the left? I'd try that.

[gilliebg]

I agree with the others that the figure would look better a little larger and not placed centrally. For the horizon, I think it just depends on the software you use. Certainly in PS CS5 or 6 you could either tweek it straight or eliminate it altogether. The colours of the lake and sky are wonderful though.

[adrhc]

I don't understand why would it be better the girl not be in the middle ? it seems to me the nice symmetry would be broken that way; the girl it's like the rain drop ...



PS: this is not my photo (I just picked it from the internet )

[Tim Bond]

Adrian
In the photo of the drop, the drop is the main focus of the photo. The girl is just part of the image and is facing to the left. If you maker her the center of attention she would work nicely in the center of the photo. I really like your drop photo.
Tim

[adrhc]

I'm sorry for not specifying from the start: the rain drop is not my photo (I just picked it from the internet).

I did the adjustment with the girl to the right (followed the rule of 3); I'm not happy with the result.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Adrian,

How's this version?



I hope you don't mind me demonstrating how I saw this developing.
Let me know if you do and I'll remove it.

Kind regards,

[arith]

It is a lovely picture as it is; just alter perspective.

[FrankMi]

Hi Adrian, my feeling is that in many cases it doesn't matter if the horizon as actually level or not so long is it looks level and doesn't become a distraction for the rest of the image.

For the girl verses the water, which do you want as the subject and which is there to complement the subject?

In this case the sea is bright and very large but a smaller in-focus human element carries a lot of attention. As a result, it's a toss-up as to which is the main subject. The size of the girl in the image makes a difference in a situation like this.

In the first image she is dead center but small so your eye goes almost immediately to the sea and horizon. In the second image she is larger so the sea and horizon isn't as prominent. In Dave's version, she is clearly the main subject as she is more prominent and the detail of the horizon is significantly subdued. In Steve's version the sea is much stronger so you are back to which is the main subject, but without the distraction of the horizon not being level.

So it's up to you. What do you want to emphasize, the sea or the girl?

[adrhc]

@Frank Miller
I want to emphasize something abstract: something like "private peace/calm earth-paradise". I see the girl only as a piece completing the idea of private and earth-paradise (not heaven-paradise).

@Dave Humphries
Nice change but somewhat a little scary (also surprisingly & very interesting); now I'm expecting something (bad) coming from the girl's foggy back .

@Steve
I think this is closer to how should be; maybe the left part of horizon a little less pronounced but still visible.