Exercise - Diagonals

Diagonal lines are far easier to find than horizontal or vertical lines.. (at least for me!)
Mainly because they depend on view point and even with horizontal lines, by tilting the view finder in angle, I could easily get diagonal lines.

1) top of the building
This image was taken in Wimbledon tennis area. The weather was nice and the sky was beautiful!! so I could take picture of the building very easily. By aiming the view finder up, this building was easily seen as a diagonal.



2) Train approaching
This image was taking at one of the train stations in the southeast of England. with this view point, standing at an angle to the edge of the platform, the rail track will always seem as a diagonal line. By tilting the camera a bit more, the whole image looks more dynamic now (to me) especially with train approaching too.



3) Kayak
This image was taking when we went for a walk along the River Thames. I could easily place the kayak in a diagonal line to the frame.



4) along the deck chairs
I took this image at 55mm. I did not try shooting with wider angle (18mm) but if I had taken with wider angle, the deck chairs would have been further apart.
maybe I should have tried. will try next time when i go back to the park and if the chairs are still there!!



5) Trooping the Colour
I took this image while walking near London. There was "Trooping the Colour" on the Queen's birthday.
The Red Arrows (Hawk) have formed a zigzag diagonal line and it also gives a sense of direction of going forward because of the orientation of the aircraft themself.




Conclusion (and learning information)
a) Diagonal lines introduce the most dynamism into a photograph. They respresent unresolved problems.
b) Through the viewfinder, most diagonal lines do appear as a result of viewpoint. (horizontal / vertical placed in angle against frame edge)
c) The maximum for a single diagonal is 45deg but with 2 or 3 different diagonals combined, the strongest effect is when the relative angles are all great without being equal.
d) Out of the 5 images taken above, the Kayak one seem less dynamic than the rest that's because diagonals appear more dynamic when they form a stronger angle with the longer side of the frame. The shorter side of the frame seem to trap the the boat in place that it can't move therefore it seems less dynamic.
e) Parallel diagonals reinforce each other; a variety of diagonals gives the greatest energy to an image.