Behind the Frame: Leading Lines

One of my favorite things about shooting on the streets of Manhattan is the ability to use the streets to create strong leading lines.  Leading lines are lines within an image that lead the eye to a specific place.  In this particular image the line from the cars and the line from the sidewalk converge right at the bride and grooms faces so the eye is visually drawn in right to them and it even creates a nice little triangle with their heads, which as I’ve talked about before, is a visual element our eyes love to look at.  I used the same technique as I discussed a couple weeks ago in the cherry blossom photo of blowing out the background to create a luminous frame, but with the wonderful dynamic range of film I still retain the lovely details in her white Monique Lhuillier gown.  Great composition is nothing without a great moment and I love the connection here between the bride and groom as she places her hand on his jacket and laughs.  When I take these “walking and talking shots” I place the bride and groom in position, tell them to look and talk to each other and not to look at me and then I set my focus and walk in pace with them backwards so I can keep the focus at F2.