Composition is a key element of a great photo and there are may ways to create a great image. There are literally millions of photos shared online daily, so it becomes harder to have your image stand out from the rest. Hence in the post about composition I wanted to take a different view at talking about this topic rather than the traditional posts about composition rules and technicalities. I wanted to showcase with examples in a more practical way why an image looks pleasing to our eyes when we see it.
Leading lines are everywhere around us, man made or provided by nature. Sometimes there are more visible and other times they are visible only to a trained eye. However this method is not new and has been used for many years in photography and painting to draw the attention to the subject(s) into the image.
In this image on the right you see how nature has shaped up the dunes and created sharp lines that can be leveraged to create an image.
In the image below you see how nature has provided two beautiful leading lines that lead us into the image.
The image below demonstrates how the beams of the roof lead us to the subject of the image. The image is composed in such a fashion that you have the main subject placed in the centre lower half of the image and all the lines converge to it. This is a great example of composition and relying on the elements around you to create a powerful image.
In this image of Brooklyn Bridge you have all the suspension cables acting like the leading lines towards the centre of the image. The footpath and the divider also provide great symmetry and lead the eye right into the image.
Other times you are relying on invisible or implied leading lines which are present in the form of connecting dots which lead us into the image. In the example below of the image from La Conciergerie you see the invisible lines that are presented by the base of the posts as well as the top of it. You also notice the concrete slab edge at the base of the post which forms a more prominent visible line.
If you gaze and stare long enough at this image, your eyes will show you these lines.
So hopefully with these examples you get a good practical understanding of Leading Lines and how we can use them in composing great images. Make sure you check out other posts related to composition to take your photography to the next level.