Tip of the week: Use leading lines within a photograph to draw the viewers eye to the subject. Leading lines are visual elements that create a visible edge that guides your eye through the composition. They  help give a definite sense of perspective within the photograph. Our brains are wired to automatically look at the foreground of an image and then move on to the background. Leading lines give an image depth and are typically more interesting since they provide a guide for our eyes to follow throughout the image. I like to use leading lines when possible for portraiture. I like to use the visual lines that are created by sidewalks and roads to provide a definite perspective and to draw the viewers eyes to focus on the main subject.

For these two photos, I decided to go with a black and white conversion. The gray tones help simplify the composition by breaking everything down to light and dark. This simplification helps give the grass and sidewalk additional contrast to form a stronger leading line. The loss of color also removed the distraction of bright colors within the photograph that can automatically draw the viewers eye away from the main subject.

50mm                            f/2                             1/1250sec                          ISO 200

100mm                             f/2.8                               1/500sec                     ISO 800