Nature Photography Tips 5 – Diagonal Lines
We’ve been covering some great nature photography tips that are easy to apply instantly. We started with the rule of thirds and horizontal lines, then moved to repeated vertical lines. Today, we’ll talk about lines on the diagonal. Diagonal lines are great for expressing rhythmical movement. Western viewers tend to look at a picture from left to right, so a diagonal line will lead the eye up or down, and provide a sense of excitement and motion. This is a great tip to keep in mind as you’re pondering your composition.
If you want to portray a sense of stability and repose, focus on horizontal and vertical lines. A lower horizontal line will emphasize wide open expanses, and give a sense of freedom, a higher one will emphasize the foreground. If you want movement and excitement, use diagonal lines instead, or at least attempt to incorporate one in your photo.
Assignment:
Go take some photos with diagonal lines in them. Try to find ways to get shots both with and without diagonal lines. For instance, I took this shot of the hills on a snowy day from on top of a ridge. When I faced the next ridge directly, I got shots with mainly horizontal lines, but by turning just a bit to the right, I was able to focus on the edge of the range as it sloped down toward the valley floor. Compare your shots, and see if you don’t sense more movement in the ones with diagonal lines.
In Nature Photography Tips 6 we’ll cover a special form of the diagonal line that add even more power to your composition. Enjoy!
Tags: diagonal lines, nature photography, photography tips
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I guess Westerners view a picture from left to right as that's the way we read text.
It's interesting to me that a picture can be “viewed” in a different way by different cultures!
The great thing about the eye is how easily it is fooled by depth and height when looking at a photograph or a picture…just look at all those fooler puzzles that have lots of diagonal line patterns that if you stare at long enough look like they stand out in 3D…