There is such a feeling of awe for me when I am out for sunset, the clouds are heavy with no chance of color, and suddenly the sun blinks through and lights up an arch in the clouds.
Because I didn’t see any chance of sunset colors I walked away from my heavy tripod. I wasn’t ready for the burst of light and had to shoot hand held at high ISO. A lot of noise. Did I get enough removed to make it passable?
Ah, the serendipity of chaos!! Thanks Jane for posting this image. I certainly don’t feel noise is a major issue, reviewing images on the web is always a little compromised in fine detail because of the compression used to manage file size.
However, what you have done is offer me an opportunity to discuss placements of horizons.
I do believe intuition can play a huge role in this, but one has to develop that skill with lots of rational thinking. This of having a conversation with someone you know a little bit, but not well. Sitting 6 feet apart would feel ok, but if their face was 6 inches in front of yours, I suspect you’d feel pretty creeped out and uncomfortable.
This is the relationship between the frame edges and the main content in an image.
The distance of the frame above the arch of red cloud is comfortable and safe. It is spacious, and feels airy and light; heavenly even. By contrast, the arch of reflected sky more of less touches the frame edge, but not quite. This little gap makes it feel tight, constricted and constrained. Not heavenly!
There is a strong tension gradient starting at the bottom, and easing as we go up through the frame. The horizon is placed about a 3rd of the way up into the frame. If this image was consciously composed for the horizon to comply with the rule of 3rds then that rule has not helped you in this case. Proof that it only helps, when it works. It cannot be used as a “must follow” mantra.
With perfect reflections like this, it can make more compositional sense to have the horizon pass straight through the middle of the frame, creating an equal distribution of space to both halves.
There is a lot to learn from this image, and I hope you find my pointers of some value. These can be tough lessons to learn, but the sooner we drop rigorous constraints, the sooner we understand where the scene wants to be in the frame…
Thanks for posting
Thank you Alister. I WANT to learn or I wouldn’t have signed on to NPN. I don’t have the raw file in front of me right now, so I can’t recall whether I had more space at the bottom and cut it off because it was so dark and noisy. But I will check. I will correct if I can. Thank you again for weighing in. Mary Lane Anderson
Thanks for that. Yeah, the only way to learn is to think and consider the consequences of our actions. It takes some effort, but that is where growth comes from.
Looking all of this over and the comments from Alister, you could have an opportunity to crop to a panorama thus creating that balance. I also finds it makes the eye effect of the clouds and reflection even stronger. This emphasizing that “blink” title even more. Just a thought if you find you don’t have more space.
Thanks David. I found my original and it does have more space at the bottom. I didn’t think it was all that interesting and definitely more noisy but I intend to try to pull out what I can. I also might try your crop suggestion. It is good to explore other possibilities and pay attention to the vision of others.
Mary Lane Anderson
