Pre-Widwed: Leading Lines

Wide angle lenses are very good at lots of things. Enhanced perspective, striking distortions, foreground interest and leading lines all belong in a wide angle lens's bag of tricks. Of course such concepts are rarely mutually exclusive but as far as may be possible, I think it is useful to concentrate on one at a time.

Traditionally "leading lines" lead viewers into an image. One finds oneself following the lines to their real or perceived endings which often point to elements of interest or provoke a desire to leave the confines of the image in a quest to explore what lies beyond. They are powerful aids in composition.

Here is LAST week's leading line link.
Here is THIS week's leading line link.

In last week's link there are lots of striking and powerful images but many of them involve straight lines which often arrive at vanishing points that end the eye's journey too soon. Straight leading lines are easy to find but they are frequently less satisfying than their curved alternatives.

In this week's link, curved leading lines offer longer, more enticing journeys than their straight counterparts. My three examples above are not terribly exciting compositions but they DO attempt to illustrate curved leading lines. Incidentally the lens in operation is the garden variety zoom attached to my compact Olympus Stylus 1 camera, set to 24mm (ff eq). You all have lenses at least as good as that one.

In any case, tomorrow's challenge is Wideangle Wednesday: Leading Lines (widwed66). The "wrinkle" to which I referred last Friday is that while ALL forms of leading lines are more than welcome for the challenge, there is a very good chance that I'll be awarding more brownie points for curved examples - all other things being equal. As usual, whatever shape the leading lines may be ... please have fun in the quest.