Guiding the Eye: Mastering Leading Lines in Photography
- What are Leading Lines in Photography?
- Types of Leading Lines in Photography
- How to Use Leading Lines in Portrait Photography
- How to Use Leading Lines in Landscape Photography
- How to Use Leading Lines in Architectural Photography
- Final Thoughts on Leading Lines Photography
- Recommended Photography Gear
- Always be aware of your surroundings/background and what can create leading lines.
- In some situations, don’t be afraid to create artificial leading lines.
- Use different perspectives and angles to create leading lines.
- Wide-angle lenses and macro lenses are especially useful in leading lines photography.
- Use editing to your advantage to crop your images and accentuate leading lines.
- Understanding Photography Composition Techniques: Tips for Framing Your Shots
- How to Create Interesting Compositions in Boring Places
Photo by Nelepl via Shutterstock
Leading lines are a basic photography technique every photographer (and videographer) should master if they hope to be successful. While most people professionally trained in photography will know what they are and how to use them, most beginner photographers don’t. That’s where we come in—to teach you how to use leading lines photography to take better photos!
In this leading lines photography guide, we’ll cover everything there is to know about them. First, we’ll define leading lines and why they are important. Next, we’ll discuss different types of leading lines. Finally, we’ll explore how to use leading lines in three of the most popular types of photography: portraits, landscapes, and architecture.
With that in mind, if you are ready to discover how to guide viewers' eyes with the help of leading lines, let’s get to it!
Check out the video above by Matti Haapoja to learn how to find and use leading lines in photography and videography.
Table of Contents
What are Leading Lines in Photography?
Photo by Eric Urquhart via Shutterstock
Leading lines is one of the core principles of photography composition. It’s a technique that uses lines within a scene (natural or artificial) to direct viewers’ attention to a specific point in a photo (usually your main subject). Leading lines are a photography element you can use in all types of photography.
How you use leading lines in your photography is up to you. In some scenarios, you will want your leading lines to be very obvious so your viewers don’t get distracted, and their attention immediately jumps to the subject. In other cases, using subtle leading lines that don’t dominate the image is more beneficial.
Types of Leading Lines in Photography
Photo by Smileus via Shutterstock
When people first discover leading lines, they often think there is only one type of leading line. However, that is definitely not the case! In fact, you can use many different types of leading lines to guide the eyes and improve your photos.
The three most common types of leading lines are linear lines based on their direction: diagonal, vertical, and horizontal. Converging and intersecting lines are two more creative ways to use linear lines.
Photo by Willyam Bradberry via Shutterstock
For people who want to be more abstract, you can use the shapes and outlines of natural elements and objects to create leading lines. Good examples include waves, cliffs, trees, fields of crops, roads, etc.
How to Use Leading Lines in Portrait Photography
Photo by theshots.co via Shutterstock
Whether the person you photograph is close to the camera or far away, you can use leading lines to guide the eyes to your portrait. In the example above, the photographer used horizontal and vertical leading lines in the background that converge on the woman in the middle of the frame.
Photo by explorewithinfo via Shutterstock
In contrast, in the image above, the photographer used leading lines in the foreground to direct the viewer to the subject standing further away. They also used a depth-of-field effect to add visual appeal to the image. Both photos are picture-perfect examples of how to use leading lines in portraits!
How to Use Leading Lines in Landscape Photography
Photo by Jane Rix via Shutterstock
Leading lines are used more in landscape photography than in any other type of photography. That’s because when using wide-angle lenses, there are so many leading lines to incorporate into an image. You just need to train your storyteller's eye to identify them, and voilà, you will be shooting like a pro!
In landscape photography, you can use natural and human-made leading lines. In the example above, the photographer found he could use the white lines from the surf break as leading lines that point straight toward the mountain. On the other hand, in the image below, the photographer used a road to achieve the same result.
Photo by Puwaphat Petchpuwadee via Shutterstock
In both of these images, the use of leading lines helps the image be much more successful. We’re drawn into both scenes, and our eyes are easily moved from the foreground to the background, thanks to the use of very different kinds of leading lines.
How to Use Leading Lines in Architectural Photography
Photo by ABCDstock via Shutterstock
In architectural photography, you can use leading lines in the foreground/background of the images, or you can use the buildings themselves to create leading lines. In the image above, the photographer used a crazy-looking structure in two unique ways: it serves as the leading line to the city behind it while simultaneously being the photo’s primary subject.
Photo by mapman via Shutterstock
In the example above, the photographer used tall skyscrapers set against a solid sky background to create beautiful leading lines. They made the image even more powerful by shooting from a low angle.
Final Thoughts on Leading Lines Photography
Photo by Daniel_Kay via Shutterstock
As you can see, using leading lines in your photography is an excellent way to grab viewers’ attention and guide them towards the primary subject in your images. Once mastered, leading lines are unquestionably one of the best ways to improve the composition of photos and videos.
Although we specifically focused on how to use leading lines in portrait, landscape, and architecture photography, they can also help visually enhance images in other genres. For example, you can use leading lines photography for travel, wildlife, and adventure photography. Finally, as a bonus, here’s a list of more tips for leading lines photography.
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