Welcome to our P52! This project is designed to get you out with your camera once a week in a meaningful way. Each week I will post a prompt for you to consider. The prompts are merely suggestions, and you are free to shoot off topic if you wish. All images posted must be taken by you, be safe for work, and be taken with this project in mind. Please do not post archive photos. For a further discussion of the guidelines, please refer to this thread, and you can find the previous weeks linked there if you missed them. Feel free to join in at any time of the year, and you may go back to missed weeks if you still wish to participate.
Week 26: Leading Lines
![main.jpg]( "main.jpg")
Back again for another week of the P52. This week we are going to look at leading lines, which are a great way to lead the viewer’s eye through the frame to draw them right into the subject. I admit that I don’t use lines often enough in my own work unless I am using a path or a street, but there are lots of ways to use lines. Think railings, overhead power lines, floorboards. Lines are everywhere and training your eye to see them can really level up your compositions. In the image above, I rearranged the plant pots to line up their edges in a bit of an S curve, and the light and shadows lead your eye to the orange dahlia and help keep your eye right at the flower.
Here is an example of lines really bringing focus to your subject. I knew that I wanted to have the focus of this image be on the cupola-like structure on the building in the background of this image. However, with no zoom lens and a busy street, I risked having the image lose its focus with so much going on in the frame. I stood off to the side (in part so as not to get run over standing in the middle of an intersection with no spotter) and used the lines of the street to direct the gaze of the viewer.
![Roll _2_YashicaMat124_2023_Image_03 copy 2.jpg]( "Roll _2_YashicaMat124_2023_Image_03 copy 2.jpg")
Using paths and other structures deliberately can will focus your viewer's eye on the subject with the intent of not having the eye wander out of the frame. They can be natural or manmade and can offer a very graphical element to your photos.
![2023-06-25_0001 3.47.37 PM.jpg]( "2023-06-25_0001 3.47.37 PM.jpg")
![2023-06-25_0002 3.47.37 PM.jpg]( "2023-06-25_0002 3.47.37 PM.jpg")
Paths and streets are easy to use as lines within an image.
![2023-06-25_0004 3.47.37 PM.jpg]( "2023-06-25_0004 3.47.37 PM.jpg")
However, leading lines can be more subtle. Consider the images below. On the top left, the out of focus flowers are arranged in a slight V shape that point to the in focus flower. In the top right image, although the subject is well defined by the area of focus, the pointed lavendar flower also leads our eye right back to the bee as the main subject. And in the bottom image of Halley, the light itself is a line that leads our eye to the rim light of our subject.
![2023-06-25_0005 3.47.37 PM.jpg]( "2023-06-25_0005 3.47.37 PM.jpg")
S curve lines are always a good option if you can find them and add a particular interest to images.
![2023-06-25_0003 3.47.37 PM.jpg]( "2023-06-25_0003 3.47.37 PM.jpg")
One thing you must take care of when using lines is not to lead your viewer's eye OUT of the frame. We want to have the lines to accentuate the subject. The three images below were all taken at the same location. Only one uses leading lines in a way that tells our story successfully with the use of lines. In the top image, the lines of the railing posts lead our eye right to Halley and also work as a secondary framing method. The bottom left image is a good image, but the depth of field and framing do not give us any leading lines. The bottom right image is an example of what NOT to do. We see her sitting on the bench, and then observe the path behind her with the lines that actually lead us away from our intended subject. This is a poor use of lines. A more successful image would have had me stand more to the right and center her on the bench within those railing lines, but there is a large tree where I would need to stand, so I have never worked out this angle before. Make sure your lines lead to your subject and keep your viewer's eyes circling within the frame. You can compare to this to the image of my daugther above walking the dog; while the S curve does lead out of the frame, because they are walking on the path, it invites the viewer to imagine where the path might lead.
![2023-06-25_0006 3.47.37 PM.jpg]( "2023-06-25_0006 3.47.37 PM.jpg")
Go forth and find some lines this week!
Week 26: Leading Lines
Back again for another week of the P52. This week we are going to look at leading lines, which are a great way to lead the viewer’s eye through the frame to draw them right into the subject. I admit that I don’t use lines often enough in my own work unless I am using a path or a street, but there are lots of ways to use lines. Think railings, overhead power lines, floorboards. Lines are everywhere and training your eye to see them can really level up your compositions. In the image above, I rearranged the plant pots to line up their edges in a bit of an S curve, and the light and shadows lead your eye to the orange dahlia and help keep your eye right at the flower.
Here is an example of lines really bringing focus to your subject. I knew that I wanted to have the focus of this image be on the cupola-like structure on the building in the background of this image. However, with no zoom lens and a busy street, I risked having the image lose its focus with so much going on in the frame. I stood off to the side (in part so as not to get run over standing in the middle of an intersection with no spotter) and used the lines of the street to direct the gaze of the viewer.
Using paths and other structures deliberately can will focus your viewer's eye on the subject with the intent of not having the eye wander out of the frame. They can be natural or manmade and can offer a very graphical element to your photos.
Paths and streets are easy to use as lines within an image.
However, leading lines can be more subtle. Consider the images below. On the top left, the out of focus flowers are arranged in a slight V shape that point to the in focus flower. In the top right image, although the subject is well defined by the area of focus, the pointed lavendar flower also leads our eye right back to the bee as the main subject. And in the bottom image of Halley, the light itself is a line that leads our eye to the rim light of our subject.
S curve lines are always a good option if you can find them and add a particular interest to images.
One thing you must take care of when using lines is not to lead your viewer's eye OUT of the frame. We want to have the lines to accentuate the subject. The three images below were all taken at the same location. Only one uses leading lines in a way that tells our story successfully with the use of lines. In the top image, the lines of the railing posts lead our eye right to Halley and also work as a secondary framing method. The bottom left image is a good image, but the depth of field and framing do not give us any leading lines. The bottom right image is an example of what NOT to do. We see her sitting on the bench, and then observe the path behind her with the lines that actually lead us away from our intended subject. This is a poor use of lines. A more successful image would have had me stand more to the right and center her on the bench within those railing lines, but there is a large tree where I would need to stand, so I have never worked out this angle before. Make sure your lines lead to your subject and keep your viewer's eyes circling within the frame. You can compare to this to the image of my daugther above walking the dog; while the S curve does lead out of the frame, because they are walking on the path, it invites the viewer to imagine where the path might lead.
Go forth and find some lines this week!
