Using Lines

Lines are everywhere, from the curves of a child’s profile to the lines in the horizon or a pathway through the woods. Learning to see lines and shapes when creating images can open a whole new way of photographing your subject, allowing you to direct the attention of the viewer exactly where you want it to be.

Parallel lines

A useful visual dynamic in composition is learning to see parallel lines in your photographs. This is particularly useful in nature or landscape portraits, where visual lines are often formed by horizontal planes created by land and sky. A literal translation of this dynamic would be a view of the beach, in which the sand might form one line, the dark and textured water forms the second line, and the sky forms the third parallel line. You don’t always have to think in thirds, but the composition can be more pleasing, less static, and more balanced if you use parallel lines in uneven numbers.