Leading Lines - Photography Technique

Leading lines are one of the many tools available to a photographer. They work off using lines formed from parts of the photograph which lead to a focus of the photograph. They are not always easy to find but can greatly aid the composition of a photograph. These lines are often railings, paths, stairs and also landscapes themselves.

Examples of Leading lines:

This photograph, taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson(Research on Henri Cartier-Bresson found on another Page), has at least two ways of using Leading Lines. The first are the railings(Red lines). They are curving towards the cyclist and show it to be the focus of the photograph. Another Leading Line is the edge of the pavement(Blue Line). This again has a curve which follows the cyclist and makes it seem significant to part of the photograph.

Bicycle - by Henri Cartier-Bresson

This next photograph show two children walking along a street. The scenery itself looks rather dull unsafe. The cracks(Red Line) along the floor makes this interesting as part of the danger is actually a leading line towards the girls. The shadow(Blue Line) also makes an interesting leading line as the edge leads towards the two girls again showing them to be the focus. The wall itself is a good exampel of a leading line as where the wall colour changes shows a leading line(Green Line). What I find interesting about the first two examples is that would both also fit the idea of 'Rule of Thirds' as the focus of each piece would be resting on the left vertical line.

By Henri Cartier-Bresson

This piece is more modern and was taken at a train station. This uses a lot more examples of Leading Lines which is why I thought it would be good to use. In this piece there is again railings which work as short leading lines(Blue Lines). The train tracks(Red Lines) also work towards the center of the image(The presumed focus). The Side of the tracks also lead towards the focus quite well as they are almost like a dot to dot as that is where the lines follow(Green Lines).

Unknown Photographer