The Glen is a narrow, naturally formed valley on the shoulder of Knocknarea Mountain in Sligo. It is characterized by its vertical limestone limestone walls, its heavily wooded and vegetated floor and its relatively narrow width; in some places no more than 15 metres wide. Although it is a very enchanting place it is not the easiest place in which to capture images as it is wet, muddy underfoot and, even when the sun is directly overhead, quite dark. I selected this place for the exercise on vertical and horizontal lines in the OCA’s Art of Photography course (p61 course notes) because I knew from past visits that there would be plenty of opportunities to use the natural elements to frame both vertically and horizontally and compare these choices.
To overcome the dark lighting conditions I increased iso to 400, used a tripod and, in many cases, used shutter speeds of up to 5 seconds with the shutter being released by cable. I was trying to keep wide apertures to ensure that I had large depth of field to capture the strong horizontal perspective in many of the images. Because, I was concerned to try and ensure a focus on the framing elements (vertical trees and limestone cliffs or fallen down trees or branches, mainly) I converted all the images to black and white through Elements with Silver Efex Pro using the default setting. None of the images was cropped. Each of the pairs of images is preceded by a short observation as to which of the framing choices I prefer and why.
For Glen 1a and 1b I was attracted to the way in which the trees and their branches vertically and horizontally framed the view. The long horizontal branch to the top of 1a ensures that a horizontal frameworks best for me here.
Glen 1a
Glen 1b
For Glen 2a and 2b the strong contrast between the vertical tree trunk to the right and the mass of horizontal branches was the attraction with both formats working equally well.
Glen 2a
Glen 2b
In Glen 3a and 3b I was taken with the mass of vegetation beyond the crooked branch in the top right hand corner. I used the branch to give some foreground perspective to try and emphasise the depth into the mass of vegetation. I think the vertical frame format works better as the ground in the foreground helps to emphasise the depth to the image.
Glen 3a
Glen 3b
As you walk further into the Glen larger trees start to dominate the floor of the valley and the relationship between their form and direction and the valley walls becomes interesting. These images attempt to place the two elements into context. 4a tends to emphasise the vertical dimension of the valley with 4b the horizontal. Both framing choices work.
Glen 4a
Glen 4b
In 5a and 5b I was attempting specifically to explore the shape of the trees and how these relate primarily To each other. The vertical frame works best for this.
Glen 5a
Glen 5b
In the Glen it is all too easy to become attracted to the trees and the vertical walls and ignore the rich ground cover. The two images explore the shapes created by three different types of vegetation in close up. I think the horizontal format with its approximate balance of shapes works best.
Glen 6a
Glen 6b
Although 7a and 7b show the same fern they are essentially two separate images as it proved impossible to get a satisfactory horizontal framing of 7b and vertical framing of 7a. I think the horizontal image is more dynamic.
Glen7a
Glen 7b
Macros of the fern leaves are shown in 8a and 8b where the patterns formed by the leaves were the main subject. The vertical image I think works marginally better as it emphasises the vertical dimension to the leaves.
Glen 8a
Glen 8b
The group of trees with their gently curving trunks in synchronicity long the length of the valley was the subject of 9a and 9b. I am quite happy that the curves are shown to best effect in the vertical framing in 9a.
Glen 9a
Glen 9b
The vertical walls with their horizontal layers of rock are in places draped with vines and moss and ferns and other plants hanging on tenaciously. Glen 10a and 10b attempt to consider the relationship between the walls and the ferns growing out from the crevices. Both framing formats work.
Glen 10a
Glen 10b
Three elements were at play in these two images; the tree trunk to the left, the wall and the plants trailing down the walls. This was the one image where I was not satisfied with my attention to tight framing. The bottom left hand corner of the vertical frame shows daylight between the tree trunk and the ground behind the tree trunk. If it were not for that framing mistake I think the vertical image would work better as it demonstrates the strong vertical dimension to the valley.
Glen 11a
Glen 11b
This is one of the few spots along the 1km long valley that there is a relatively unobstructed view along the length. I placed the heavily leaved floor in the foreground of both images to try and get the sense of depth to the image. I prefer the vertical dimension if only because it is one of the few images that captures the sky above the valley.
Glen 12a
Glen 12b
The plants trailing down and the the walls were the main subjects of these images. In both, the vertical trailing plants contrast with the horizontal beds of rock. Both framing choices work.
Glen 13a
Glen 13b
The very strong contrast between the stone walls and the large tree trunk to the left was considered in these two images. The vertical frame accentuates the strong vertical dimension to both elements.
Glen 14a
Glen 14b
Having explored the relationship between the walls and the larger vegetation I turned my attention to the smaller scale patterns without going to macro. The first of these explorations is in 15a and 15b where the relationship between the horizontal fern leaf and vertical plant stem was the subject. I am not quite sure what works best here but would probably opt for the vertical in that there is not much to attract my attention to the right of the fern leaf in the horizontal image.
Glen 15a
Glen 15b
Damp and dark conditions encourage the growth of fungi. 16a and 16b are a treatment of fungi growing out from a tree trunk. They are least satisfactory of the images I made here because, despite the intrinsic interest to me I felt that neither vertical or horizontal formats captured what I wanted. Perhaps it was because the fungi itself was not strongly horizontal or vertical?
Glen 16a
Glen 16b
17a and 17b, as with 6a and 6b, consider patterns in close up. the strong shape of the ivy leaf in the horizontal frame anchors the image without dominating it and it is this that leads to my preferring the horizontal frame. It was not possible to include the ivy leaf in a vertical frame at this point.
Glen 17a
Glen 17b
In 18a and 18b I was concerned with absence (the dark spaces) as much I was with the mixture of patterns and shapes formed by the leaves, roots and the rock. The horizontal framing captures this best, together with the tree roots as they wind across the image. The vertical frame has too much fossiliferous rock and detracts from the other shapes.
Glen 18a
Glen 18b
In many places moss covers the walls and is mixed with lime that precipitates from the lime laden water that makes its way out of the cracks. In many places there is a constant drip of water from the sides of the valley, even in dry weather. Images 19a and 19b attempt to capture this feature. the small leaves to the right of both images have been included to give a point of interest without detracting from the main point of subject. The overhanging moss in the vertical frame provides marginally more interest.
Glen 19a
Glen 19b
And, having spent quite a few hours in wellingtons setting up and taking down the tripod and being certain that I had 40 images as per the exercise I realised, once I started processing them, that I was one short! So, my final two images are a horizontal view across the roof of the Popes’ Palace in Avignon and a vertical from the same location. The first reminds me of Niepce, View from the Window at Graz while the second could not have been captured horizontally without losing the very strong vertical dimensions of the slit opening and window in the distance.
The exercise has demonstrated that whilst in many cases the choice between vertical and horizontal framing is quite clear there also many cases where both can be made to work or the choice is not so clear.
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