Exercise: Diagonals.

Diagonal lines are fairly easy to create in a photograph, in the main they depend on viewpoint, camera angle and perspective, this makes diagonals common in photographs.  Take 4 pictures , which use diagonals strongly, also look for examples in the textbook, make notes of them in the learning log.

I had not realised when photographing this scene, how well the image would fit into an exercise about diagonal lines.  I used a wide angle lens, which has emphasized the linear perspective between the graffiti wall and the Liverpool skyline.  I would also have liked to compare  a picture taken with a telephoto lens.  This would have changed the perspective and given the impression the wall and Liverpool were a lot closer together.   I had to use a 16mm wide angle lens, because it was not possible to get farther away from the wall, so a longer lens was out of the question.


Before setting out to take pictures for this exercise I looked through my course book, looking for examples of diagonals.  Apart from the section on diagonal lines, where the images were obvious diagonals.  I found ten other photographs, of which four were linear perspective, four appeared to have been composed diagonally, and one had a definite line because of strong contrast between light and shade.  In the last one the camera had been tilted to one side therefore making a diagonal line.

This is the first of my four pictures, taken with diagonal lines in mind, again it's linear perspective that makes the diagonal, possibly the multiple lines of glazing bars in the roof help give an impression of distance.  I love these Victorian shop canopies, sadly most of the old shops have long gone.  At least most are in use, if only selling second hand furniture and bric-a-brac.  The canopies like the promenade shelters at New Brighton have all been painted and appear to be well maintained, a credit to the local council.

This photograph has a definite diagonal line in it, formed by the rope and continued on by the steel bar running up to the top of the boat.  There is also linear perspective between the bow and stern of the boat, this is not as obvious because I had used a short telephoto lens to take this picture.

This is some detail I photographed on the side of a bridge.  A very simple image of something that caught my eye, the paint runs are proof that the diagonal row of bolts are authentic and show that I have not just tilted the camera.

I was not sure about this image at first, but after looking at it again I'm reasonably happy that the family group, form a diagonal.  Even though the tower block has some strong vertical lines within it, my eye still goes to the people going down the hill.