Assignment #7: Shoot a landscape with the horizon in the lower third of the frame.
Here in Middle America, we don't have a lot of deep, three-dimensional topography to photograph. So, naturally, I have some landscape assignments on my list and, unsurprisingly, my example shots are all from our travels out west.
So what makes a landscape photo a landscape photo anyway? Do they have to be vast? Should they not include people or man-made objects? Must they always showcase the beauty of nature?
I don't know that we have to answer those questions or that we have to agree on the answers. I tend to think of a landscape photo as conveying a sense of scale and promoting an appreciation of a place. And I certainly don't object to people in landscapes as is evidenced below.
Why do I specify a low horizon for this assignment? Because it's something to think about when you're composing a shot like this. Sometimes the sky is absolutely worth including - and sometimes it needs to be purposefully omitted.
Break in the Clouds
Atop Pikes Peak near Manitou, Colorado
Isaac and the Crazy Clouds
Colter Bay, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Morning on Jackson
Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
