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Whether you’re a beginner to photography or have been taking photos for years, every picture you take is composed of lines - vertical, horizontal, straight or curved.
Different lines have different affects on the finale image, where you place, and how you visualise those lines before you press the shutter button can have a dramatic effect on your photos.
In this article I am going to show you 3 quick ways to improve your photography using lines, and also hopefully give you some new photo opportunities.

1. Using curved lines in your photos can often give a sense of movement, as you can see from the picture below the shape of the road is brought out and made stronger by the light reflecting off it. If the road in this image was straight, it would become just another ordinary photograph.

Photo courtesy of gettyimages.com

Next time you are out with your camera, look around you for curved lines, either natural or man-made, for instance, fences, trees, tracks and even lines on the road. Try shooting from low down on the ground, or high up, as in the picture above to capture a more dramatic affect.

2. You can use curved, straight, or horizontal lines (or a mixture of them all) in a photo to lead the viewers eye in to the main part of the picture. Again using a fence, road or tracks that will gently lead you into the picture.

Photos courtesy of gettyimages.com

3. Last but not least, scenes containing mostly vertical and horizontal lines suggest a formal sense of order and stability as in Architectural buildings.

A structure or image with mostly strong vertical lines tends to have a sense of height and grandeur, as shown below.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng

Straight horizontal lines which are often in Landscape pictures, seem to give the impression of tranquility, calmness and space.

Although the horizon on the picture below slightly curves, the overall effect is static and ordered, with a sense of space.

Do you have any tips on using lines in your pictures?

If you would like your photos to be shown in my next articles, please let me know in the comments and I will get back to you.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 6:55 am and is filed under Photo Tips and Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.