Brand Photography Composition Tip: Diagonals and Leading Lines

When you think of leading lines in composition, you might go back in your mind to the first art class you ever took and the idea of a road leading your eye through a frame. You might have an image in your mind something like the landscape below…

But let’s explore this idea a little further. ANY line in your photo can lead the viewers eye where you want it to go. Let’s take this concept into the world of flatlay photography for instance. You can see in the photo below that I used a notebook, some pencils, scissors, and a stapler ALL as leading lines to point in towards the little notecard that is the main point of focus in my frame.

In food photography I often times use silverware, a mug handle or even a linen as a leading line as exampled below. The purpose of these are to lead the viewers eye in towards the subject or around the frame and hold their attention longer.

Once you start thinking outside of the box (or road), just about anything can act as a leading line when place strategically within your image. In the images below I used hands and arms as leading lines.

Taking this concept of leading lines a step further, strong diagonal lines prove to be even more compelling to the eye and dynamic in the frame. So when you can, make that leading line come in at a diagonal! I think one of the best examples I have of this was the flatlay earlier in this post, but here are a few others that show a strong diagonal line. Flatlays are a great place to play around with composition tips like this one.

I hope these examples and quick tips inspire you to create more compelling images with the use of leading lines! Have a question about leading lines? Don’t hesitate to ask in the comments below!

In addition, you may be interested in these other blog posts I wrote on composition: The S Curve and The Rule of Odds.