Lines - fundamentals of photographic composition

We are living in a world which is filled with lines. outlines and wisps of clouds, silhouettes of  mountains, telephone lines stretching from pole to pole, and so on. Lines connect points to create shapes. Shapes have edges, and edges are themselves lines.

 Photo Credit : Alexander Pyatiletov

Lines and edges define the way we see, and they are fundamental to photographic composition.

Think about lines for a moment. Lines have a direction: they are horizontal, vertical or diagonal. 

A straight line looks different from a curved line. Lines have width; they can be wide or thin. Some lines are dark; some are light. A line going from dark to light may look like it is fading to nothing; a line going from light to dark appears to be developing. Some lines are simply more expressive than other lines. Despite the importance of lines, we don’t typically photograph lines by themselves; rather, we see a composition with shapes that are reduced via abstraction into horizontal, vertical and diagonal

lines … triangles, curves, circles and so on. Use lines to make your compositions more compelling. Look for the lines in a scene and use them creatively. Begin by pre-visualizing your compositions stripped to the essential elements. When you do this, there should only be a few shapes left as surrogates for the entire composition. Think: If you actually draw the lines that form the shapes in a composition, would these lines make an interesting drawing? How can you shift your lens, position and lighting to make the intensity, direction, fl ow and interaction of your lines more interesting?

We can divide these straight and parallel lines into three specific categories:

1. Horizontal
2. Vertical
3. Diagonal

1) Horizontal Lines

The Horizontal lines are usually interesting and provide a stability and rest to your image and subject involved. It is more of a defined permanancy and consistency to your photographs, they often serve as a dividing line creating an anchor to the subject or object within.

Photo Credit : Todd Klassy

2) Vertical Lines

Vertical lines are describing the mood, they makes the photograph even more powerful. Try holding your camera vertically while you spot one or try to shoot these lines. This creates more length to your scene, trying to convey or potray the height in it. You can also feel free to break the rule and a horizontal framing can make one sense the strongness in it.

 Photo Credit : Todd Klassy

3) Diagnoal Lines

They draw the attention of viewer very quickly, its so attractive yes the Diagonal Lines. They usually work by creating point of interest within the frame plus lines of intersection within them to the photographer’s advantage creating stunning perspectives. There is a sense of dynamics to the image as if something is always moving, this illusion is the advantage of diagonal lines. Many studies have revealed that people often emphasis an image by stating the subject travels from frame left to right, hence working to its favour can create some memorable pictures for you.

 Photo Credit : Damir

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