leading line

Yesterday afternoon I was at a county park/farm with a friend, my hubby, and Bean. I had three photo "jobs" to attend to in the space of two hours, two of which were for two different websites (can share more later), and one was to get my mindful Picture Inspiration photo assignment completed.

Although I wasn't really in a mindful mood because I was completely distracted by a perfect moment of beautiful light, perfect background, and my precious Bean standing in the middle of it.

These were my three favorite pictures from the two hours we were there. She was in another world. I was a whisper away. I look at these photographs and lament at how fast she is maturing, yet in awe of how she grows more beautiful each day.

We walked a little further from our spot and my P.I. pic found me. The assignment this week was a further exploration of the rhythm and motif, this time incorporating repetition, a diagonal, and a shallow depth of field to carry the viewer's eye through the picture. It is called a leading line. Photographer's jargon, blah blah blah.

But when you see it you intuitively know and like it because it is pleasing to your eye. Whether you know it or not, your eye likes to enter a picture, move about it comfortably, and then exit it smoothly. It likes a turbulent-free ride. Well at least mine does. But then, I have always been one to get extremely motion sick so there you go.

So here is the picture that found me.

Ok class...please take note of the repetitive pattern on the fence, your eye traveling diagonally across the photo following the fence line, taking a brief rest stop at the just out of focus Bean in that shallow depth of field (I put her there because I really like a human element to photos), and then continuing on out to the old barn and exiting off the photo. You entered one side of the photo and exited off the other, left to right, like you read. (Unless you read Anime/Manga novels then you read right to left, back to front, but whatever, that's beside the point class.) This is not a rule for every photo you take but it is one I employ often, because I like lines and diagonals and sometimes I am kind of a geek about them. Kids, if you own a camera, this is safe to try at home.

And so here ends my rambling. I think. You know, sometimes I think I am good at photographic leading lines but not so good at using them in writing...like now. How do I exit this post smoothly? I led you in, carried you through, and now am at a loss as to how to land the plane and let you off easily.

Maybe I should just end it here.

Or here.

The end.

(See you tomorrow.)