Why exactly? It’s because as well as providing a natural route into and through an image, lines can also be used to divide up the picture into different areas.
The most obvious lines are those created by man-made features such as roads, paths, tracks, walls, hedges and avenues of trees. Natural features such as rivers and streams, although not necessarily straight, have the same effect, winding through a scene into the distance and taking your eye on a fascinating journey. Shadows, too, can create strong lines, especially when the sun is low and long shadows rake across the landscape.
Horizontal lines echo the horizon, so they’re calm and easy on the eye. Man-made boundaries in the landscape, such as walls, fences and hedges, are obvious examples of horizontal lines. Vertical…
