Understanding photo composition is not an easy task. There are quite a few “rules” of composition, and some of them even contradict each other! And then you as the photographer (artist) also have to decide when to apply the rules and when to break them! In order to decide when to break the rules, it’s important to understand the rules to begin with. Tonight we’re going to talk about one of the easier rules of composition to understand and to follow. That is the rule of using “leading lines”. If you’re new to photography and art in general, a leading line is some sort of line that leads the eyes towards the main subject. Leading lines can be almost anything including a road, a path through the woods, a fence, a river, a shoreline, etc. I think you get the idea.

So how do we use leading lines? The answer is that we use them to lead the viewer’s eyes towards the main subject of the photo. If we look at the science behind how vision works, we learn that it is natural for our eyes to follow a line. Keeping that in mind, it makes sense to use them to emphasize our main subject. On the other hand, it makes no sense to use them to lead the eyes away from the main subject. For example, which seems like it would be more appealing, an image of a road leading towards a beautiful sunset, or an image of a road running parallel to the same sunset. The answer, of course, is the road leading towards the sunset. In that example, the road leads the eyes to the sunset, and thus compliments it. In the second example, the road running parallel to the sunset is distracting and actually leads the eyes away from the main subject, the sunset. Therefore the road is not at all complimentary to the sunset.

The rule of using leading lines is pretty easy to understand, and it’s not one that is broken very often. But it can get a bit more complicated. For example, can a leading line be curved? The answer is absolutely! Particularly in nature photography, our lines are often not straight, and actually straight lines may look unnatural. The one thing you don’t want, though, is for your leading line, whether straight or curved, to lead the eyes off your composition. Another possible complication is what happens if you have more than one possible leading line? If they intersect, that may be a great place to put your main subject. That way you have two lines emphasizing that subject, which can be very powerful. If they don’t intersect, you may want to change your shooting angle in such a way that they will intersect or in such a way that you can eliminate one of them.

So how do we learn to use leading lines? First, start looking for them. They are everywhere, so start noticing them in every day life. Notice how they draw your eyes towards other things. Then, practice, practice, and practice some more. If possible, when you set up to shoot, take a few moments to see what types of leading line are available and how you can use them. Think about what effects they may have. Shoot from different angles using those lines in different ways. While you’re shooting, pay attention to where your own eyes are drawn. And as always, while you’re doing this have fun! How do you use leading lines in your photos?