Lines and Shapes in Photography

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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Photography isn’t just about including the desired subjects inside the frame. It is a process similar to painting in which you try to convey a message or strike an emotion. A strong composition is the product of a thoughtful study of the environment around you, its lines, shapes, and the patterns they form.

Lines can have a very nice impact on your composition making it more appealing. They can grab the attention of the eye into a certain direction, they can add depth to the photo, and they can form interesting patterns.

Lines can be found all around us. The horizon, beaches and fallen trees, all can add interesting horizontal lines to your photos which can add a sense of stability to the picture. While adding lines to you composition, you should not forget about the Rule of Thirds, and try keep the horizontal lines perpendicular to the edges of your photo. Remember that this type of lines is usually more convenient to horizontal photos .

Vertical lines are even more obvious to us. Think of buildings, upright trees and light posts, they usually reflect growth and strength and when used correctly, they can provide interesting patterns especially when the photograph contains other elements. To avoid misusing the vertical lines, make sure that they are perpendicular to the top and bottom edges of the photo. These lines look best in portrait orientation.

Another type of lines is the diagonal lines. They can add depth to a photograph as well as creating points of interest inside your composition and if repeated, they can also produce nice patterns. They also give a feeling of dynamic action. A compositional convention is to avoid placing diagonal lines on the diagonal of the photograph as the photo will look split.

The lines’ types and orientations are related to the viewpoint used in the photograph. Just by changing your point of view, you can turn horizontal or vertical lines into interesting diagonal lines. Combining this with placing a subject at the convergence point will make an excellent composition.

While lines may add a certain mood to your photograph, shapes usually provide the meaning. The shape is the first thing that identifies an object and it is usually considered as its 2D outlines. Contrasting an object with a different background is usually the best way to put emphasis on its shape . A good example for this is silhouette photography where the subjects are dark while the environment is colorful.

Objects may look the same from some angles and that may result ambiguity. Because photographs have two dimensions only, choosing the right perspective is essential to present the object with the shape you want.

Lines and shapes are abundant around us; we just have to remember how to utilize them efficiently.

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