Nature Photography Tips 4 – Vertical Lines
The next step in our series on nature photography tips will take up several posts. The rule of thirds is the most fundamental concept in art composition, but there are many others. Let’s spend some time exploring the various lines we should be aware of as we decide where to point the camera, what angle to shoot from, and what to fill our frame with.
There are 14 basic line patterns to choose from and, of course, an infinite number of ways to use each of those 14 patterns. Being aware of what types of lines are present in your frame will instantly improve your results.
The first two patterns are simply the horizontal line and the vertical line. We covered both when we covered the rule of thirds, but lets just review the vertical line again here.
Here’s a picture of some snowy trees I took by holding the camera down near the ground and pointing up toward the sky. Most of the lines are vertical spaced evenly, and roughly parallel to each other. The snowy hedge ads a horizontal line which serves to break up the photo. I could have chosen to avoid the hedge and had only vertical lines. I also could have moved around a bit to space the vertical lines unevenly, or added a closer tree to give more variety to the thickness. Each shot would have been an entirely different composition.
Here’s another example. It’s a closeup of a single tree trunk with some summer maple leaves against it. The vertical lines are provided by each side of the trunk. I wanted the trunk to fill up most of the photo, so I couldn’t use the rule of thirds for both sides. I chose to line up the right side of the trunk close to the 1/3 mark, and have the trunk a bit off center.
Assignment:
Find a subject with strong vertical lines. Try taking several shots from different distances and angles. Think about achieving as much symmetry as you can, then change your approach to get an asymmetrical effect. Try zooming in to get just one or two vertical lines for a simple, striking composition. Don’t forget to implement the rule of thirds where applicable as well.