06 CREATE MOVEMENT

Turn viewers into participants through the use of leading lines

The amount of eye movement through an image is something that I consider a great indicator of how interesting and successful a photo is. An image with a great amount of movement holds the viewer’s attention, causing them to spend more time looking at it. It makes the picture more memorable to them.

One of the best ways to create movement within a photograph is to use leading lines. Leading lines pull the eye into the scene and, if used correctly, move the gaze around the scene. They can also be used to lead the eye from one subject to another. You could look for clear physical lines such as paths, rows of trees or crops, or rivers and canals, and lines within the structures of buildings (vertical columns or horizontal bands of windows are obvious examples of this). However, even a variance in colour within an object can form leading lines within an image.

Another way you can create movement in your shots is through the way the main subjects are arranged. The amount of space between the two (or three) main elements in the scene affects how the eye moves around the image. If the elements are placed close together, either side by side or directly above one another, there is very little movement as the viewer can look at them as a block. If the main subjects are placed at opposite corners of the scene, however, the viewer’s eye must travel all the way across the frame when looking from one to the other. This creates movement and therefore makes the photo more interesting to them.

An image with a great amount of movement holds the viewer’s attention, causing them to spend more time looking at it Dan Ballard, Landscape photographer