Converging Lines For Better Framing.

When framing a landscape shot one of the types of environmental features that many photographers look for and like to incorporate in their shots is converging lines.

Perhaps the classic example (and one that’s probably been overdone) of converging lines are railway tracks.

Position yourself in the middle of two tracks (after taking a look at what might be coming from behind) and you’ll see the two tracks on either side of you appear to get closer and closer together as they go into the distance.

Take this shot and the natural reaction for those looking at the scene will be for them to follow the lines off into the distance. In a sense the two lines act like a funnel which directs the gaze of those entering them in a certain direction.

The same effect can be achieved with roads or pathways, converging fence lines, a set of stairs, power lines or virtually any other lines that run parallel into the distance or that actually converge at some point.

What Can Make a Line?Almost anything can create a line within a photograph. There are three main categories of lines that can be used in leading lines. These are: natural, man-made, and suggested.

Natural

Natural leading lines are things such as rivers, tree tops, edges of flower patches, geese flying in formation, or even an alligator’s tail. Anything that creates a continuing line within your frame can be used as a leading line.

ManMade

Manmade leading lines are lines that do not naturally occur in nature. Manmade lines can be things such as roads, power lines, rooftops, fences, rows of windows or doors, support structures for bridges, or the bridges themselves. As with natural lines, the composition of the line isn’t important as long as it creates a solid pathway for the eye to follow.

Suggested

This is where leading lines gets a touch tricky, and perhaps a little controversial. Not everyone calls a suggested leading line part of the leading line composition rule. Because it falls into lines, I prefer to consider it part of leading lines rather than a wholly separate tool. A suggested leading line is a broken line or an absent line that is strongly suggested by the positioning of items within the frame. These suggested leading lines are most frequently due to line of vision. This is when a subject in the frame is looking directly at a specific point with nothing between the two to visually separate them. For example, a person holding an apple and looking at the worm crawling out of the apple with the background strongly blurred between the face and the apple/worm. In addition to the lack of separating objects between two points in a suggested leading line, it works best when the distance between the points is the shortest comfortable route for the eye to take. This means that while the distance might be longer for the eye to wander around the frame a bit, if another composition tool is present that suggests a different visual path (say the rule of thirds), the eye will follow the other progression of sight instead of the suggested leading line. In other words, if in our hypothetical subject looking at the apple/worm photo there was a large bee on a rule of thirds intersection point above the main subject’s head, the eye of your viewer would be drawn away from the suggested leading line to that blasted bee so that the visual path might be subject-bee-apple/worm instead of subject-apple/worm. Use caution when attempting a suggested leading line as the composition has to be just right for it to work strongly. However, if everything comes together properly it is a powerful option for a leading line.

Do the Lines Have to be Straight?No, lines do not have to be straight. In fact, some of the most interesting lines are curved or even looped. As long as there is a definite path for the viewer’s eyes to follow, the line can take any path you wish. For example, a twisted road leading up a mountain still works as a leading line although it takes the eye through a twisted path within the photo.

Using Sets of Lines TogetherOne of the most obvious and often used lines is a railroad. The rails themselves are strong lines that are usually in strong contrast with the surroundings. However, the gravel beside the tracks creates lines and the tree tops (or power poles) following the tracks create even more lines. Because these lines all work together and run in the same direction, the strength of the railroad line is greatly increased by the support of the secondary lines around it.

You can also use converging lines together. A flock of geese in a V formation is actually two lines coming together at the point of the V. In this case you have two lines joining and the eye follows those two lines like an arrow pointing to the intersection of the line.

Conflicting Lines just like some lines can be used to strengthen each other, others can fight each other and confuse the composition. Crosshatch wire on fences is a good example of this confusion. There are so many crosses of the wire that it stops the eye from moving anywhere in the photo. Roads intersected by multiple power lines and trees growing out of people’s heads are good examples as well. Any time lines break another line they run the risk of creating confusion. If you use crossing lines you must be very careful to have something of interest at the intersection or the lines will conflict with the rest of the composition