Lines, Shapes, Forms and Light

In this post I explore how light combined with the lines of a subject give it dimension or form.  The understanding of line, shape, form and light is one of the many basic principles of photographic composition.

When we talk about shapes in photography, it is simply the two dimensional outline of a subject.  However, the three dimensional shape of a subject is created through the use of light and shade.   Light coming from the side of your subject creates shadows and they give the shape a form as opposed to front lighting.  However, sometimes it is the lines as opposed to the light that seems to give the subject a form.

I have found that building structures are perfect examples to demonstrate this subject.  The images presented here are an assembly of lines and forms of basically architectural subjects, where lines of the structures combined with lighting take basic shapes and add dimension to the subjects.

I feel that black and white photography gives a much more dramatic effect to architectural subjects.   All of the images here were shot using a Sony A7II camera.  All comments about this post can be addressed to me at my email address:  nymacc@gmail.com.