Lesson #13: Lines


Another way to create more interest in your composition is to help direct viewer around the frame by using lines and with they way you place your subject matter. By keeping key subjects out of the center and having them occupy more "random" areas of the frame, your images take on more tension and they'll attract more attention as viewers unconsciously try to figure out the "order" of the picture. If there is no immediately defined order, they'll look longer and once again your shot will have more impact.

    When someone looks at a photograph, they're eyes follow a certain path throughout the image moving between the elements in the composition. By playing elements off of each other, or by using lines, you can dictate the path they take, whether they be actual lines in the image, or implied by the placement of the subjects. Real lines can be things like mountain ridges, tracks in the terrain, shadows, the direction your subject is looking or traveling, or anything else you can think of to direct the eye. By leading them both in and out of the frame, you're giving them a complete experience with the image. Diagonal lines are usually more dynamic than vertical or horizontal lines.