Rex-Pix

I deliberately left this post till after as this may be contentious. Recently our camera club had the identical as ba set topic. The judge tore into the majority of contestants' stating that leading lines which do not lead to an object of interest (punctum) were pointless?! He is a highly acclaimed judge and photographer and needless to say peaved off many. Think he has a point though. Other thoughts ?

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

The ideal is to have leading lines pull you into the photo. If the lines continue thru and out of the photo then you have missed the point of having them. In landscapes I will try to start leading lines in a corner pulling towards the center to the subject
You will also hear Rules are meant to be broken. Rules are followed as our minds and eyes find certain aspects about a photo Pleasing to the majority. If you own a restaurant and only cook to your palate, let's say No Seasoning and your business fails because you broke all the rules/cooking without seasoning, what have you proved. By Following the rules, pleasing the eye, more people will be drawn to your images.

Bonkles Loc: St Albans, UK

It is only his point of view. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When you go to a major Gallery of art, some you like some you do not but most are considered to be master pieces. Many of which have been acclaimed long after the artist has died. I think your so called judge is very picky, did they define leading lines to every one prior to the club competition. It is always easy to be critical after the event. The current UHF leading lines has produced some excellent shots for all to gain experience from.

Bonkles Loc: St Albans, UK

Excellent

edgorm Loc: Rockaway, New York

I agree with all of the above. After all, what YOU like is more important than what we like. If you didn't like it, then why did you bother doing it?

Bonkles Loc: St Albans, UK

A quote from the Photography School re thirds

"I will say right up front however that rules are meant to be broken and ignoring this one doesn't mean your images are necessarily unbalanced or uninteresting. However a wise person once told me that if you intend to break a rule you should always learn it first to make sure your breaking of it is all the more effective!"

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds#ixzz2MxUcecmV

Pierre H.J. Dumais Loc: Mississippi Mills, Ont.

I really like this discussion.
The comments are well meant, informative and a boost for everyone's creative streak.
It's what a top notch photography club should be.

Pierre

renomike Loc: Reno, Nevada

Leading lines are lines within an image that leads the eye to another point in the image, not always a main subject, or occasionally out of the image. Anything with a definite line can be a leading line. Fences, bridges, sidewalks, even a shoreline can lead the eye. The fellow in your camera club needs to read up on leading lines, he's very short sighted. Just my opinion....;0)

Mike

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I like the idea of the line leading to a specific point of interest. The tutorial link that St3v3M provided with the contest information showed examples both ways, however.

Your club's experience will likely lead to discussion on whether to more narrowly define the terms for future contests, or to at least brief the judge about what to expect. And I'm sure your thread here will help other clubs as well.

Tea8 Loc: Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.

You know I was just thinking about this as I looked back over all the photos entered. I recently took a workshop and one of the classes I took was portraiture and composition. I took this hoping to learn more about "rules" that were out there for photos and some things I could do while doing portraiture to make my photos better. One of the topics discussed was leading lines. Now what was presented there in the way of leading lines was that they are made to carry the viewers eye throughout a photo or to the subject of the photo. So given that definiton the leading line can be the point of the picture and so long as it is leading the viewers eye through the photo then it follows that "rule". Seeing as how this class was taught by someone who is a professional wedding photographer the examples we were given all had leading lines to a subject in them, but does that make a photo wher the leading line as the point worth any less?

I entered a photo in the contest here and in my photo the leading line is the point. Looking back on it now I kind of wish the line could have instead lead to a subject and maybe that would have made it a little more interesting. Now does that mean that all of the photos where the leading line is the point is bad? No, it just means that for my particular photo I don't think it worked. And now I know something things I could try for next time to make the photo better whether or not I have a leading line leading to a subject. I was just happy that this challenge inspired me to get out there and try to look at things from a different perspective and take a photo that I wanted to enter for the contest.

Pedro2156 Loc: Manchester UK

This may also be a little thought provoking, but, fstop22's image of the tracks, should that image not be flipped so the track starts bottom left and not bottom right. most western judges seem to say that the image is "Read" from left to right in the western world, just as we read and write.

Hmmm........ Just a thought.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Take a look at this video by Bryan Peterson on leading lines
http://www.adorama.com/alc/0014123/article/Join-the-f22-Club-And-Transform-Your-Landscape-Photography

profpb Loc: Venice, Florida

The key to consider is "Competition" not art.

Competition causes whining and excuses. Just enjoy or move on; works for me in photography.

I'm an old athlete but now I don't care as much. I just try to be healthy and happy and wish the same for everyone else... except some. It's the same in politics.

Relax, just take pictures and play in Photoshop.

lovesphotos Loc: Colorado and Arizona

You are so right edgorm. One has to please himself or herself before expecting to please others. I paint and sculpt. If I am not pleased with a finished piece of work, no one will see it. I also realize that just because I may be pleased does not mean everyone else will.

ph0t0bug

As I have stated so many times: I'm no expert, a newbie at dslr, but I used to paint. Can't help thinking of the Beatles song "The Long and Winding Road". The song was about the road, it led nowhere, the point. I have seen many photos of a long country road or similar, and love the lonely, quiet journey. I think the mystery about what might be at the end is intrigueing. JMHO!:)