Tip: Look for leading lines

One of the first things I do when looking for a location to set up my camera for a shot is to search for anything which will create a strong line leading to the subject. It can be a fencerow, a shoreline, road or fence – anything that can help lead the viewer’s eye to the area of the picture in which the main subject resides.

The sunrise photo at the right employs a fence and roadway to lead the eye to the rising morning sun, while the shadows of the cows themselves in the photo below serve to act as leading lines.

Take some time to look through my photos on my photo blog, Points of Light, or at my photo site on Flickr and try to identify the photos where leading lines were used. Some are very obvious, while others are more subtle.

Photographs © 2006 James Jordan. Click on pictures to enlarge.