Diagonal lines play an important part in creating a more interesting photograph. Consciously or unconsciously, they tend to move a viewer’s eyes through a picture. This week’s challenge is to consciously look around for to see how often diagonal lines are visible, either in nature or man-made.
When composing the shot below, I took advantage of the digonal line created by sand dunes in the forground. Does this line plus the tall sea oaks lead your eye to the focus of the picture, the sun and clouds?
This golf course picture shows two types of diagonal lines. First, is the shadow at the base of the putting green (right side, middle of the picture) and then a secondary line was created by the set of chairs and golf bags. All framed by rows of sweet grass in the foreground with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. The Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
The digonal direction of the river leads the eye to the Wood Stork in flight, the Maritime Forest in the background and then to the three birds resting in the beautiful marsh grasses on Kiawah Island.
The long line of large trees on either side of this golf hole creates diagonal lines leading the eye to the beautiful body of water below.
As a side note, notice how the fairway abruptly ends and then the tops of other trees are seen in front of the lake. This is because the fairway goes straight downhill to a small green at the base of these trees. This was taken in Maine at The Links at Poland Springs. This course is well-known and enjoyed by many US Presidents and as you can see from the sign, hole #4 is also highly regarded! (If need be, double click on the sign to read it.)
Morning sun on the fresh snowfall in Maine a few years ago created lovely diagonal shadows.
These last two pictures show man-made diagonal lines. First is the row of pylon in the river behind the Edison-Ford Estate in Fort Myers, Florida. And lastly, diagonal lines created by a row of buildings on either side of the street in Charleston, South Carolina.
Hope you enjoyed seeing a few examples of digonal lines. Thanks goes to Patti for suggesting this great topic and making us more aware of the part they play in photography! Be sure to visit her site to see her many examples
For those of you who are enjoying the holiday season now, I would like to wish you and your family a Happy Holiday. And to everyone, please be safe and stay healthy.
“Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine they see all day.” – Catherine Pulsifer