The Photographer's Eye: Graphic Guide

DIAGONALS

These are always useful when you want to bring action, a sense of movement, and strong angles into an image. Diagonals carry the eye along them, up or down, and generally enliven things. They come into play if you angle the camera up, down, tilt it, or shift the viewpoint—especially with a wide-angle lens. The diagonals in this wide shot of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome are entirely a creation of the camera angle and lens, and were designed to make a version of this famous space that was more dynamic and impressive than architectural. The shot was timed for late afternoon, when the shafts of sunlight stream down in this position; the light anchored the framing. The viewpoint was chosen to include the two foreground putti on the left, ...