Leading Lines?

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  ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 23,853 moderator

  June 30, 2005 edited June 30, 2005

  I was really hoping one of the other, more familiar, tutors would chime in here. I am not very good at "finding" leading lines myself. What I usually find is accidental and even incidental. I see through the viewfinder, or on the LCD, things which have a symbiotic and complementary relationship. Often, what I see, or thought I saw, doesn't work exactly as I thought it would.
  
  
  What I understand about Leading Lines is that they are visual, compositional elements, which aid the viewer to rapidly discern the subject of the photograph, or which create the subject itself (the Leading Line is the subject of interest.)
  
  Lines are natural clues which our eyes and brains interpret as significant. They break up tedium and attract our attention. They serve as guides and they serve as inhibitors.
  
  The best explanation is through example. The following links have some pertinant material:
  
  http://www.mashell.com/~parr5/lines.htm
  http://www.dpchallenge.com/challenge_results.php?CHALLENGE_ID=71
  
  http://photoinf.com/General/Guy_Tal/Learning_to_Photograph_the_Landscape_Part_II.html
  http://photoinf.com/General/Theresa_Husarik/Photography_Tips_-_Composition_Refresher/Leading_Lines.htm
  http://www.aea1.k12.ia.us/lois/leadinglines.html
  http://www.naturephotographers.net/np101/gt0804-1.html
  http://www.thepeaches.com/images/PostAlley-sm.htm
  http://www.tpub.com/content/photography/14209/css/14209_122.htm
  
  Later, I'll post some of my own humble examples.
  
  ziggy53

  ziggy53
  Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums

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  DRT-Maverick Registered Users Posts: 476 Major grins

  July 2, 2005 edited July 2, 2005

  Thanks for the help! I'm going to apply some of these soon and see what I can come up with.

  Pentax K20D 14.6mp Body : Pentax *ist D 6.1mp Body : Pentax ZX10 Body : 180mm Sigma Macro EX lens : 18-55mm Pentax SMC DA Lens : 28-200mm Sigma Lens : 50-500mm Sigma APO DG EX lens : Pentax AF-500FTZ flash : Sigma EX 2x Teleconverter.

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  GREAPER Registered Users Posts: 3,113 Major grins

  July 2, 2005 edited July 2, 2005

  Leading lines should pull your eye into the photograph, never out of it.
  
  Typically they start in the "front" and lead your eye back.
  
  In this shot the line of the crack in the rock should pull your eye from the lower right, towards the upper left and then back towards the center.
  
  
  
  In this shot the line of the shore points your eye right to the bridge.
  
  
  
  In this one the sweep of the handrail leads your eyes to the bridge.
  
  
  
  Here the tire tracks lead your eyes back to the farmhouse.
  
  
  
  The line does not actually have to be a "line". It can be elements that line up and form a straight path for your eyes, like this path of rocks.
  
  
  Situations where a pathway of some sort lead back into the photo are pretty good uses of leading lines.
  
  
  
  
  
  I hope that helps.

  http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/
  
  

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  ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 23,853 moderator

  July 2, 2005 edited July 2, 2005

  Greaper,
  
  
  Thanks, those are wonderful examples. I especially like the road to the covered bridge and the snow tracks to the farmhouse.
  
  ziggy53

  ziggy53
  Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums

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