Exercise 20. Curves as elements of design.

Curved lines can add beauty and fluidity to an image.  Very often they are used as a design technique for leading the eye into the frame.  Curved lines allow the eye to explore an image in a free flowing manner.  Like diagonals, curves have a great sense of movement and direction also add a feeling of smoothness to an image. 

Fig 1.     1/250sec    f/8.0    45mm    ISO 125

Dead Sea Resort

This cropped image shows a great sense of movement and direction, and the creation of the sculptural water feature from metal along with the steady flow of water gives a feeling of smoothness.

Fig 2    1/100sec    f/6.3    34mm    ISO 100 

Wahiba Sands

Gentle curves take the eye diagonally across this image, light and shadows create smooth lines, captured by the sun going down over the hills beyond. 

Fig 3.  1/50 sec    f/13.0    42mm    ISO 100 

Wadi Bani Khalid, Sharqiyah Region.

Converting this image into black and white emphasises the curves and defines the lines.

Soft smooth curved lines take the eye through from the lower left to the upper right of this image, created in the lower half of this picture by the constant flow of water throughout the year and high water levels in the winter, and the upper curves caused by the wind and elements wearing away the softer surfaces.

I positioned myself low on the ground to achieve the perspective with curves flowing from the lower corner up through the photo to the upper right.  

Fig 4.    1/250 sec    f/4.5    38mm    ISO 100 

Square crop

I used a tripod to enable me to capture this image, with the camera being less than .50mtre from ground level.  I tilted the camera angle to accentuate the curved lines.  The curved lines from the paving reinforce the curved line created by the rounded sculptures. A strong sense of movement is felt.  The low viewpoint gives an acute angle of view, strengthening the curves.