Leading lines in photography

What are Leading lines in photography, anyway? Well, if in the antiquity all the roads were leading to Rome, in photography, they lead to the main subject of the picture 🙂

The most common use of leading lines in photography are the roads and pathways

This one for instance, was a road glowing in the last rays of sun in Utah.

In this case below, the lines of the bridge point to my husband approaching the exit. * I told him to walk to the end so I can take the shot – it was in Thunder-bay, Ontario 🙂

I actually also made a digitally painted version of it – I just love to play with my photos and give them a painterly look 🙂

When we look at a photo, our eyes instinctively follow the existing lines. That’s why a good composition is supposed to attract the viewer into the scene. I hope your eyes here are attracted not only to the Alhambra tower, but also to the city of Granada below.

The street lines here lead to another historic building in Harlowton Montana. * I made the picture as a digital painting.

Leading lines in photography telling a story

But like frames, the lines in a composition also help to create an interaction between the elements. Often they can tell a story too, like in this picture of frozen hills in Palouse, Washington:

And lines (read roads) are meant to be crossed right? Aren’t these wild burros in Nevada so cute?

Oh, these tourist intruding into to the wildlife habitat are terrible aren’t they! (Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada)

Leading lines in photography created by other elements

Any lines that lead your eye to something of interest, are good leading lines. One photo I always liked is this one with the telescope pointing to the city of Monte Carlo – Monaco and the bay. It is part of my Monaco one day visit post also made with the Lens Artists in mind.

On the other hand, it was not too difficult to notice this clock tower in Uberlingen, Germany with so many architectural lines pointing to it:

Natural elements can create leading lines too

Here is a scene on the beach of Ocean Shores in Washington – I love drift wood 🙂

The flowing water of the Kakabeca falls leads your eye right to the river below;

… And finally, rocks, palm tree leaves and waves will conduct your view to the antique Mayan temple in Tulum, Mexico:

I hope you enjoyed my examples of the leading lines in photography along my travels 🙂

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Lens-Artists Challenge #80 – Leading Lines |