Gallery: seeing the horizon in black and white

You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore

William Faulkner

Who hasn’t stood on the shore and gazed out at a distant horizon? Or on a hill or mountain, looking out over an expansive view and the sky above? But when we try to capture it with a camera we are sometimes disappointed. The view that awed us so much may seem flat and less impressive. ‘You had to be there’, we might say.

But with a little care it’s possible to convey at least something of the wonder that filled us. We might add foreground interest, or look for interesting cloud formations. We might use leading lines to draw the viewer’s attention. Or we can take a minimalist approach and rely on the simplicity of our image to make an impact.

I missed last week’s Monochrome Madness, in which Dawn asked us to photograph the horizon, so I’m taking advantage of this free choice week to share my efforts now. The easiest place to get a clear view of the horizon is of course by the sea, and most of my images were taken in various coastal spots and beaches around the world. But I’ve tried to find some other examples, even though elsewhere the horizon isn’t quite as clear. Sometimes it’s left to our imaginations to ‘see’ the horizon. Other times we may glimpse it between buildings, trees or hills.

One of my bugbears, by the way, is a horizon that isn’t horizontal, and I see that too often. It’s very easy to take a photo of a tilting horizon. I do it myself from time to time, despite having guide lines in my viewfinder! But it’s almost as easy to straighten it afterwards; even basic free editing software will do that for you in one simple operation.

OK, enough moaning, here are my horizon shots. All were taken in colour and converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro. And yes, I have straightened the horizons where necessary! Dawn asked for five shots but I’ve sneakily included a sixth as my feature image, which was taken from Mount Paektu in North Korea.

No borders, just horizons – only freedom

Amelia Earhart

Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park, Washington State

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The coast near Loreto, Baja California Sud, Mexico

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Approaching the sea ice north of Svalbard on our Arctic cruise

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And sailing out of sea ice after our memorable encounter with a polar bear

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The Chicago skyline from Lake Michigan