05 - Vanishing Point
The paths we take
A photo will take your eyes on a journey, a good photo will have a predefined path for your eyes to follow on their journey. A path that will usually begin at the edge and leads to the subject of the image.
This path can be obvious like a river bend sweeping through a canyon, or a subtle dust path leading over a hill. Whether the path is large or small, they are usually made from one or more sets of lines. We refer to these lines as the "leading lines".
Leading lines can lead to two destinations.
A clear, well defined subject. Usually the main subject of the image.
No subject, the lines will lead off until they converge at a single point.
Vanishing Point
We will focus on the "no subject" leading lines for this assignment.
Leading lines that have no subject will converge into a single point point if they are not interrupted, this point becomes the subject. We call this point the “Vanishing Point”
For this week's assignment: compose an image with a vanishing point.
Before you shoot:
Railway lines are commonly used as a compositional element to create leading lines. However, there overuse has made them become cliche. Stories of railway accidents caused by photo shoots on live tracks has also made the use of this photography element generally frowned upon by the photographic world. Try to avoid using railway tracks in this assignment. If you are out of struggling to find other leading lines, try revisiting our first assignment on Lines in there most basic form. A refresh on this assignment might help tune your photographic eye again to spot lines before taking this assignment.
Hint: get down low. You may find leading lines easier to spot if you shoot from a lower angle
Reading Material: https://expertphotography.com/vanishing-points-composition/
