Pt 2, Exercise 5 Diagonals

Diagonal Lines.  That's anything that isn't curved, vertical or horizontal and off I went searching for them.  I quickly found myself drawn towards architecture.  Selected images from my shooting are in this Flickr set.

First up is a photo of some steps which form a right angle

1/320, f3.8, 24mm

This image has strong diagonals, formed by the sharp edges of the steps.  Using Black & White and boosting the contrast a bit accentuates the shadows and hence lines that form the diagonals.


The next image shows the pattern in the brickwork at Lincons Inn Fields in London

1/40, f25, 80mm

The bricks have been laid to form a pattern of diagonals, which dominate this picture.  Interestingly, the red bricks, although horizontal at the bottom of the image, have diagonal sides due to the angle from which the photo was taken.  This in turn makes the entire picture seem as if it is full of diagonals, even though the horizontal lines are mostly parallel with the bottom of the frame.

The third photo is of a wider shot of the image above and shows one of the towers and Lincolns Inn Fields.

1/40, f29, 40mm

Whilst the brick work pattern is still visible, the picture is dominated by the strong diagonals of the octagonal tower and these draw the viewers eyes from the bottom to the top of the image, almost through the top of the tower into the sky beyond.

The fourth photograph depicts the roof of the British Museum.  This is a geodesic construction, formed of triangular elements, each one providing three diagonal lines.

1/640, f18, 48mm

The angle at which the photo was taken ensured that the wall was also at a diagonal to the frame.  The shadow created by the roof provided continuation of the diagonals throughout the frame and this tends to draw the eye from top right to bottom left when viewing.