Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The technique of using leading lines in photography takes composition to a new level. You can use this tool to guide the spectator's gaze to a particular point of focus, giving your image a pleasingly structured layout.
The viewer's eye naturally follows any strong line in a photo. You can use a structure like a telephone pole, or even a man-made road, to guide the gaze. You can also use natural elements like trees or intense shadows, or even pose a human subject so that the posture creates a point of focus in the picture.
You can use this technique to control the viewer's experience in a way that creates harmony or symmetry, by using one line to create a peaceful narrative. Or, you can create tension and drama by having intersecting or competing lines that fight for a spectator's focus. When you master this compositional trick, you have vastly more control over how the emotional content of your photos will be perceived.
Sometimes these lines will occur naturally in a snapshot, such as when you take a picture of a road going into a sunset on the horizon. Other times, you may wish to particularly choose a shot because you can use this technique to meaningfully capture a found subject, such as by positioning a person in a portrait shot so that tree branches or shadows pull the viewer's focus towards the subject's face and facial expression.
This is not just a tool for taking photos, it's also a way you can enhance them in the editing stage. When viewing your work, you may see potential leading lines, and choose to bring them out more fully them either through cropping, or through changing the white balance or contrast of a picture. These are a few of the ways that you can make lines jump out and grab the spectator's eye.
This technique can help you lend motion to a photograph, as you make the visual journey dynamic and exciting by the way you lead the spectator's experience of the image. If you wish to draw the eye beyond the edge of the photo's frame, you can use strong lines to suggest a focal point just outside the picture itself.
Many formal training courses include particular tasks that are meant to help emerging photographers master this technique. If you are doing photography as a hobby, or are teaching yourself the medium, you may benefit from concentrating on this tool during a particular session, or a period of your work, as a way to integrate it into your growing artistic abilities. It isn't difficult to master, and can prove very beneficial to your photography skills as they continue to develop.
It's no surprise that so many books and training courses about photography include sections about how to use leading lines. This simple technique can boost the emotional content and compositional force of your photos, and guide the experience your viewers have when viewing your work, whether you are a hobbyist or a professional photographer.
The viewer's eye naturally follows any strong line in a photo. You can use a structure like a telephone pole, or even a man-made road, to guide the gaze. You can also use natural elements like trees or intense shadows, or even pose a human subject so that the posture creates a point of focus in the picture.
You can use this technique to control the viewer's experience in a way that creates harmony or symmetry, by using one line to create a peaceful narrative. Or, you can create tension and drama by having intersecting or competing lines that fight for a spectator's focus. When you master this compositional trick, you have vastly more control over how the emotional content of your photos will be perceived.
Sometimes these lines will occur naturally in a snapshot, such as when you take a picture of a road going into a sunset on the horizon. Other times, you may wish to particularly choose a shot because you can use this technique to meaningfully capture a found subject, such as by positioning a person in a portrait shot so that tree branches or shadows pull the viewer's focus towards the subject's face and facial expression.
This is not just a tool for taking photos, it's also a way you can enhance them in the editing stage. When viewing your work, you may see potential leading lines, and choose to bring them out more fully them either through cropping, or through changing the white balance or contrast of a picture. These are a few of the ways that you can make lines jump out and grab the spectator's eye.
This technique can help you lend motion to a photograph, as you make the visual journey dynamic and exciting by the way you lead the spectator's experience of the image. If you wish to draw the eye beyond the edge of the photo's frame, you can use strong lines to suggest a focal point just outside the picture itself.
Many formal training courses include particular tasks that are meant to help emerging photographers master this technique. If you are doing photography as a hobby, or are teaching yourself the medium, you may benefit from concentrating on this tool during a particular session, or a period of your work, as a way to integrate it into your growing artistic abilities. It isn't difficult to master, and can prove very beneficial to your photography skills as they continue to develop.
It's no surprise that so many books and training courses about photography include sections about how to use leading lines. This simple technique can boost the emotional content and compositional force of your photos, and guide the experience your viewers have when viewing your work, whether you are a hobbyist or a professional photographer.
About the Author:
Parker Michaels is a new media consultant and freelance photographer. For more information on leading lines in photography, visit www.photo-junkie.com.