Lines: Implied lines

The eye follows lines in composition.  Clear lines (like those we have looked at in the earlier exercises) provide the eye with a natural path to view. 

The eye also looks for imaginary lines when no obvious or clear lines are visible.  To do this the eye looks for visual clues:

• a row of points
• the extension of a line, or lines that seem to point in a certain direction allowing the eye to move ahead
• the extension of visible movement, like a person walking or running this makes the eye move ahead
• the direction a person in a picture is looking.  The viewer's eye tends to go to the same place.

These lines are called implied lines.  One of the uses of design in photography is organising a composition in a way that you want someone to look at it. Implied lines allow you to give clues to achieve this.

The implied lines are highligted in the 2 photographs below as per the workbook. 
The lines in these images are implied from the movement of the animals and the people in the shots.

I have identified implied lines in the following pictures I have taken in the past myself.

The last part of this exercise asked me to take a couple of shots with the following implied lines to lead the eye:

• an eye line
• the extension of a line, or lines that point

Eye lines

The extension of a line/lines that point