Avoid the Rocky Mountain Effect--or use it to your advantage!

Back in design school we were taught, when hanging pictures on a wall, to create a calm, integrated visual effect by lining up the tops of all the frames. "Avoid that Rocky Mountain effect," our professors exhorted us, "that happens when you hang pictures hung at uneven altitudes across the room. Line them up with major horizontal planes--the top of a window or door frame, a bulletin board, a shelf in a shelving unit." Most of the time that's a good rule of thumb, because most of the time it works. But not always.

So what do you do then? You line up the focal points and let the frames fall where they will!  I've created an example on the left of a typical family photo wall. As you'll see, all the eyes connect to each other. This is a little tip that we teach in our Digital Photography class here at the library. The class is free; we run it every couple of months; and you can sign up by phoning 832-559-4213.