Leading Lines??

[franklin]

Can someone please help me with leading lines. Is this picture leading lines? With leading lines is there supposed to be something at the end of the line to look at? Is an empty railway track leading lines or is a train or something needed at the end?
Thankyou so much

[fletch]

A leading line is simply something in an image that leads the eye somewhere else. It doesn't need to be to something or someone, it doesn't even need to be a good thing.

A bad leading line may distract from the subject or lead the eye out of the image.

A good leading line may lead the eye into or through the image or towards the subject but as with every rule it sometimes needs to be broken.

In your shot the line seems to draw you past the main subject, the llamas, and can therefore be distracting. It the shot also suffers a bit from the foreground being distractingly out of focus and the fence splits of the left of the photo leading to wasted space. I can see what you were trying to do though (I probably would have tried the same with this scene).

[wulf]

Here is a shot of mine that I would describe as having leading lines:



Both the road, emphasised with a frosty central strip, and the hedgerows are converging on a point where the road leads to. This point is obscured by the hedge on the left (no particular subject) but I think this adds to romance of the image.

Your image has a clearer subject but the line of the fence doesn't particularly lead to it, while the lines in the background (horizontal fence, vertical trees) are not quite true and dissipate rather than focus the picture.

Wulf

[SusanH1970]

Here is a great site with very good examples of leading lines.

I do see what you were going for in your shot, and you almost had it. Good for you for trying! Give it another try and be sure to post your results.

[franklin]

Thankyou, I will try again, once the snow ends !!! I am so done with winter...