Lesson 10: Leading Lines

Leading lines are one of the most reliable tools in composition: lines in the scene that pull the viewer's eye towards the subject. Roads, rivers, fences, staircases, railway tracks, shorelines, rows of trees, the edge of a building — any line that runs through the frame can do the job. Used well, a leading line turns a flat scene into a journey, giving the eye a path to follow and the photograph a sense of depth.

Lines work because the eye follows them automatically. When a road enters at the bottom corner of the frame and runs to a mountain on the horizon, the viewer travels that road before noticing anything else. The strongest leading lines start at the edge of the frame — usually a bottom corner — and point at the subject. A line that starts in the middle of the frame and leads nowhere is a distraction; a line that leads the eye out of the frame is worse, because it escorts the viewer away from the photograph.

Kinds of Lines

Straight lines feel fast and direct: a road, a pier, a railway track. They suit photographs with a clear destination. Curved lines — a winding river, a bending road, a staircase — feel slower and more graceful, and they hold the eye in the frame for longer. Diagonal lines add energy and tension; horizontal lines feel calm and stable; vertical lines feel strong and tall. Converging lines, such as the sides of a road disappearing into the distance, are especially powerful because they also create perspective, which Lesson 12 covers in detail.

Lines need not be physical objects. A row of people, a line of footprints in sand, the direction of a subject's gaze, or a shaft of light across a room can all lead the eye. And lines can be used in combination with the rule of thirds: place your subject at an intersection point, then find a line that runs to it, and the two techniques reinforce each other.

Finding Lines

Finding leading lines is mostly a matter of moving your feet. Crouch low and a path becomes a diagonal; step to one side and a fence becomes a line to the subject; climb a little higher and a river bends into an S-curve. Before you shoot, ask where the lines in the scene are going. If they point at your subject, you have a composition. If they point at nothing, or out of the frame, move until they do — or choose a different subject. The habit of looking for lines will change the way you walk through the world: every street and field starts to offer them.