Know Your Lines

Shelton Muller discusses the need for every photographer to know their lines…

“Here’s looking at you, kid”. Now that’s a great line, but not one that did well for poor ole Bogie. It didn’t get him the girl in the end. In photography, however, lines can get you everywhere. They can even get you the girl – that is – if the girl is your subject.

One of photography’s greatest victims is the subject. While every photograph has a subject, many photographers struggle to make it obvious and their images often suffer from lack of impact. Leading lines are one means by which the subject can be clearly identified. They are also used to bring order to an otherwise potentially chaotic image.

Leading Lines

In photographic composition, a leading line can be almost anything that leads the eye through the frame or to the subject. As viewers of images we innately follow lines, and as photographers we therefore should just as innately incorporate them. A leading line might be something as simple as a road or path, a fence, a river, a hedge, tree line or even a shadow. They are not everywhere, but if you look for them they can be found more often than you think. Take advantage of them. In fact, it was not until I embarked upon this editorial that I realised how much I rely upon and innately incorporate them in my own work.

Lines provide structure to a photograph. They can unify the elements in an image that can otherwise be disjointed. They can also be used to divide the frame and provide a clear definition of the compositional elements by providing boundaries or pointing the eye directly to an element within the image that may otherwise have been overlooked.

Vertical, diagonal, horizontal, and curved lines can be used to create different moods. Vertical lines can be used to provide a sense of strength and solidarity. This would be typical of a cityscape taken from a distance. Horizontal lines can convey peace, tranquillity, and quietness as they flow through the image consistently. Diagonal lines can signify movement, action, and speed – even when the subject is stationary and curved lines evoke a sense of grace, smoothness, and dignity to a photograph. The most common curved line is the ‘S’ curve and it is used in everything from landscapes to portraits. A slightly less accented curve is the ‘C’ Curve. Rivers, beaches and canyons often reveal natural ‘S’ and ‘C’ curves that photographers cleverly utilise. The human eye, for some crazy reason, enjoys the smooth and gentle flow of an ‘S’ Curve and wedding and portrait photographers are known to use these curves as a standard for posing their portraits. This is especially true of glamour portraits and studies of the female form. The S-curve is very feminine because it is found naturally from the shoulders, down the inward arch of the back or curve of the hip and then through to the rounded and outward curve of the buttocks. However, less accentuated use of the S Curve is used in standard female posing techniques whereas men are often posed using more parallel and right angled lines.

Using this simple guideline it is easy to see where many photographers – both enthusiast and professional alike – make serious mistakes in posing. Lines do create mood and can evoke a sense of femininity and masculinity depending on how they are used. To use a strong ‘S’ curve on a man or strong parallel lines on a woman is to break the rules that govern how their masculinity or femininity is emphasised. If these rules are to be broken, it usually has little to do with complimenting either gender.

Lines by Implication

When lines are not already apparent, they can be created or implied by arranging several elements within the picture area so they form lines by their relationship with one another. This could be said or a rock formation along a beach or within a landscape. Where the photographer has control of the objects within the frame, they can (and perhaps should) be deliberately laid out so that they form a row or a leading line.

Whereas leading lines can lead the eye to the subject, they can also lead the eye through the image, or perhaps away from the subject. The latter is not such a good idea. There are no rules to good photographs”, Ansel Adams once said, “only good photographs.” So here is not the place for us to be telling you what to do. However, be aware that while you can use lines to highlight the subject, they can also be used to lead away and distract from it. One of the most powerful leading lines that can be used in a photograph is one that starts near the bottom corner of the scene and continues unbroken until it reaches the point of interest – the subject. By simply changing your viewpoint, the lines within your frame can be used to skilfully highlight the subject. The key is to look for a potential leading line and move your camera and viewpoint to incorporate it.

Shelton Muller is a professional photographer and editor of Total Image and Better Pictures magazine. He can be contacted via his website at www.photographybyshelton.com

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