Photo Friday #3 Rule of Thirds in Landscapes

Hi!  Welcome back to Photo Friday where I give you hints and tips to help you improve your own photography!  Last week I explained about the Rule of Thirds.  If you missed that one just scroll down and catch up!  I hope you have been paying attention to the TV and magazine ads and recognizing this rule played out over and over.  Although last week we discussed the rule in portraiture it also stands true in landscape photography.  The Rule of Thirds in landscape mainly says NEVER (or almost never) have your horizon cut across the middle of the photograph.  It should either be at the top or the bottom lines of the grid. 
Here is a photo I took at the beach.

Note how the horizon is located at the top third of the photo...

Note also that the girls are placed in the bottom left corner still in keeping with the rule of thirds.

So how do you choose where on the grid to place your horizon?  Do you place it at the top line or the bottom line?  Well, it depends on your photo.  Where is the most interest?  Above I placed the line at the top because I wanted the girls on the bottom of the photo.  If you have a beach scene showing an incredible sunset than you would probably place the horizon at the bottom line so that you have more sky.  In the photo below I thought the girl's footprints in the sand was more interesting then the sky so I placed the horizon at the top line.

In this next photo the leaf is placed at the bottom line because the area of interest is the spiderweb above.

Another useful horizon tip is do not let the horizon cut through your subject's head as in the photo below.

This can be very distracting!  Instead move the subject or get yourself on another level so that the horizon falls below or above. 

I hope these hints make sense to you.  I am trying to write this while my eleven year old is beside me telling me how hungry/bored/tired (you can interject just about anything here) that he is so I am feeling even more scattered than usual!  LOL!! 
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Happy Shooting!!
amy