When photographing the landscape, a horizon is where the sky meets the land in an image. Knowing where to place this horizontal line in your image can be key to composing a good landscape image. Here are a few tips on working with a horizon and how a few simple tweaks can improve shots that feature the horizon. 

Horizon tips and tricks

Make sure it's straight

If you're going to feature the horizon line in your image you must make sure it's straight. Even a slightly wonky horizon can make an image look unbalanced and in the worst cases, create the effect that the landscape is sliding away! Unless you are deliberately going for an obviously quirky angle for your horizon, it's a good idea to use your Samsung camera's built-in digital spirit level which will easily be able to tell you when your horizon is straight, whether shooting hand-held or using a tripod. 

When the sky is more interesting

The horizon line needs to be straight but it doesn't always need to sit right in the middle of your image. It can be moved up or down to include or omit parts of the scene. If the sky has some abstract cloud shapes and there is something in the foreground of the image that you don't like, move the horizon down. 1/3 to 2/3 ratio will work well. If the land is hilly, be careful when moving the horizon line as too far down and you'll end up with floating peaks that don't appear to be attached to anything. 

When the land is more interesting

Of course if there are a lot of features in the land that you think will make a good image but the sky is a dull grey or you simply don't want that much blue in your shot, move the horizon line up. This can help to create a sense of the tallness of hills, mountains and architecture in your photos. It's important if possible to make sure there is still some sky in the image to create breathing space for your subject and to avoid the image looking too crammed in. 

When it's ok to shoot wonky

There are some times when deliberately making the horizon of an image wonky will work in your favour. The main example would be sports, particularly racing. Making the horizon a little off kilter can add to the effect of speed in an image or can also be used to give an overexaggerated sense of uphill or downhill. Wonky horizons can also work well in abstract situations.