Photo Answers
All at sea over aperture? Losing it over Live View? Send your technique and camera questions to digitalcamera@futurenet.com
Andrew James
Andrew is a highly experienced writer and photographer – if you have a problem, he is here to help.
If you’re fortunate, your scenic shots will contain elements that will serve as natural lead-in lines for your viewer’s eye.
Andrew James
What’s my line?
Q
I’ve been reading about lead-in lines for landscape composition, but it seems much harder to find them when you’re actually out with a camera. Do you always need them for a successful scenic?
Shirley Windsor
A
Lead-in lines, also referred to as leading lines, are a dynamic component of composition that can be used to help draw an eye into the image. You can shoot an eye-catching image without having a single lead-in line within the frame, but if you come across natural or fabricated elements that have the capacity to point the viewer into the frame, then they are worth including.
A lead-in line can be subtle, doing no more than suggesting that you look one way, or they can be fairly bold and dramatic, like the shadow of the tree in our example image here. But it’s important that a lead-in line takes you in the right direction, in other words towards your point of interest within the scene. If they draw you in and then away from the point of interest, they’re doing more compositional harm than good.
I think there’s a sense with landscape composition that we have to find all the natural tools of the trade within every scene. It’s not true, so if you don’t come across them that’s fine, but when you do, see how you can use them to improve your photo.
Tech Check Flash sync
Not sure what difference the flash-firing point makes to an exposure? Let’s shine a light on it
What is rear curtain sync?
Your camera has two modes relating to the point at which the flash fires during the exposure. These are front or first curtain, and rear or second curtain. With rear curtain, the flash fires at the end of the exposure, while with front curtain flash, it fires at the start of the exposure.
Which option is best? It’s standard for the flash to fire at the start of the exposure to illuminate the subject. However, if you want to do something creative with a subject like a moving cyclist, if you use first curtain flash, the flash will ‘freeze’ the subject at the beginning, then capture its movement during the rest of the exposure. This might seem a bit odd, since we have the sense that movement trails behind a subject.
So to change it I’d set the flash sync to rear curtain sync?
Yes, that’s correct. With rear curtain sync, the flash will only fire at the end of the exposure, so the movement captured by the ambient light will be seen behind the flash-illuminated subject.
Does it matter how fast the exposure is?
To capture that sense of movement before the flash fires, you need a longer exposure. The longer the exposure, the more movement you’ll see. Create additional movement by panning the camera with the subject. It’s fun to experiment using your flash with both shutter speed and camera movement.