Some images are static while others are dynamic. Great compositional tools to help us make more dynamic images are curved lines. Our eyes always follow lines. So we can use lines to make our viewers track through an image. Straight lines help to create depth and they will take the viewer's attention into the image but they are not so dynamic as curved lines. Straight lines simply take the viewer from point A to point B. Curved lines take the viewer on a journey along the way. They are just more mysterious and interesting.

          Here is an image that I have used before in another blog on another topic. For today, though, look at the curved line the river makes. Note how your eyes follow the river to meander through the scene. How much more interesting is this image because the line is curved versus if it would have been a straight line?

In this scene the river is a major component of that which makes this image what it is. The river is indeed a major component of the scene. But what if these curves are not so obvious?

          On a recent workshop in Namibia we were on the famous Deadvlei pan. This place is famous for the dunes and the Camel Thorn trees. There is no river or other obvious curved lines in the foreground going into the image. The point of this blog is to remind us to always be looking down, not just up and around. Always be aware of the foreground, of anything different. As I was looking down, searching for something in the foreground to add interest I found this curved line:

Most people who come here for photography just do not look for these foreground elements. We are often absorbed by the grandeur, the major elements of the scene, and what the scene is famous for that we forget to look down; to scour the foreground for interest. When you look at this image you clearly see the curved line which makes this image more dynamic and interesting but if you were there with me you would probably not have seen it or noticed it. It did not stand out quite this much. The curved line's brightness was just a tad darker than the rest of the foreground. I lightened the whiter crust and darkened the darker crust to emphasize the curve, to bring it out.

          Whenever you see any curved lines in the scene try to work with them in your images as they add a lot to most images. Use post processing to make them more visible.

          P.S. Consider joing us on a workshop. You may just learn a lot, take your photography to the next level, visit a wonderful place and come away with awesome images. Click on workshops on the menu bar for more information. I work with the famed photography Don Smith in these workshops.