Photography Tip #5: Leading Lines

Like every good novel, a photograph should take its viewers on a journey.  It should grab their attention, guide them in the right direction, and provide a way out.  There should be energy, movement, emotion, and flow.  Leading lines are the tools photographers use to help narrate their stories.

Diagonal lines and s-curves are two types of leading lines used by photographers to draw attention to their subject and to breathe life into their images.  Take a look at the following examples.

In the image above, you'll notice that the pathway forms an s-curve starting at the bottom of the image curving all the way through to the backside of the image.  It is the tool used to draw you through the image.  Placing the family on the lower third not only gives the image more compositional strength, it also evokes movement.  The viewer is left with the impression that the family is on a walk.  You feel like joining them.  The path not only shows where the family will end up, but it also leads the viewer's eye out of the image - something every good image should do.

The image below utilizes the same compositional strategies of the rule of thirds and the leading lines.  Except this time diagonal lines were used in place of the s-curve.  Another difference?  Placing the subjects facing the camera removes the feeling of movement.  Time stands still.

Close-up images can also benefit from the use of leading lines.  In the image below I tilted the angle of the camera slightly to place the subject on a diagonal line.  Having her tilt her neck emphasizes these lines. Even the collar of her shirt forms a diagonal line that leads the viewer directly to her face.  It then leads the viewer out of the image by visually connecting with the diagonal line formed by her cheek.

Diagonal lines and s-curves can also be used to add visual impact and punch, as in the image below.  Another leading line shows up in this image as well.  The circle. The diagonal railing brings your eye to his folded arms which bring your eyes up and around his upper torso to his face and back down again to the railing which brings your eye out of the image.  The visual circle forces your eye to the subject's face - the goal of all portraits.

As you've just seen, diagonal lines can transform a photograph. Imagine the following image had a diagonal line not been used.  It would be flat and boring. The diagonal line adds energy, depth, interest, and movement to the image.  Your eye travels into the picture at the lower right corner through all pairs of legs and back out the left side of the image.  The result: Movement and Energy.

This last image is special in that it combines three tricks of the trade. Can you identify them all?  

1) The Rule of Thirds was used to position the father and son.  2) The tree provides a diagonal line leading to the subject and then out of the image.  3) The father's arms embracing his son form a visual circle leading to their faces.

Leading lines should not be ignored.  Use them to your advantage and your images WILL get noticed.