Horizontal and vertical lines

Horizontal lines

Sunny day in Brighton: horizontal lines created by the horizon (albeit cluttered), sea and beach (obvious choice) but then also by the imposition of the promenade, the base of the wheel and some of the background architecture.  Although other types of lines are present, the horizontal dominates.






In black and white, the image also works: the horizontal lines are clear and the lines created by the background architecture stand out better.

A park in Keswick: horizontal lines clearly present in the fencing and the shadows, but there is a dominant suggested horizontal line in the sense of motion from left to right of the gentleman in the mobility scooter.








I don't think this image works very well in black and white; the green tones are lost and this also makes the horizontal lines disappear.  The sense of joy that the gentleman had in the sunny park also disappears.

Containers near the port of Workington in Cumbria: oblong shapes with clear horizontals reinforced by the writing on the sides forcing the eye to read left to right.

In black and white the image becomes quite boring.  Although the horizontal lines are still clear, the visual impact of the three primary colours red, yellow and blue (sky) is lost.

Horizontal lines present in the landscape: meadow, lake, field and also in the shade of the tree in the foreground.








In black and white, the horizontal lines still stand out but the contrast provided by the colours is lost and the image is not nearly as pretty or interesting as it is in colour.









Vertical lines

Vertical lines are created in this image shot at Victoria station (for once I didn't get "told off"!) - the lines are present in the sliding doors of both the carriage and the platform protection, the oblong shape windows, the reflections and the yellow vertical stripe.

As the vertical lines are structural they are still present in the black and white conversion, however the yellow is lost which removes some brightness from the image.

Vertical lines provided here by the tree trunks shot in some woods in Cumbria.  The diagonal slope of the ground contrasts with the upright trees and emphasises the verticals further.










I really like the image in black and white; the vertical lines seem even stronger than in colour.  The black and white also helps reduce some of the over exposure of the sunny patches.

Many vertical lines here in this image of a jetty on Lake Derwent, Cumbria: the jetty posts, the metal rods attached to the post, the window frames of the boat, the bow of the boat and even the neck of the duck.







The vertical lines are still strong in the black and white conversion, but on balance I prefer the coloured image as I like the tones of the wood against the lake.

This shot was taken at a flower stall at Victoria Station in London.  I cropped it tightly to focus on the bands of colour forming vertical stripes of orange, yellow, white, mauve and pink.

The vertical lines are all but lost in the black and white conversion; this image relies on colour to convey the vertical lines.





Analysis

Of the list provided in the course materials I included the following:

Horizontal: horizon, man-made flat surfaces, long shadows, and my own alternatives, elements of the landscape, writing, motion and man-made substances (fencing wire).

Vertical:  walls, posts and other man-made structures, and my own alternatives, light and shade, and colour.

Overall, I found that vertical lines were much easier to find than horizontal lines, although these were mainly man-made substances. Although the course materials have implied that black and white images should be stronger in terms of lines, I have found that this is not necessarily the case.  Where lines are implied by colour this is clearly not going to work.  In addition, in some of my cases, although the lines were strong, the colour contributed significantly to the visual effect.  In other cases the tonal values weren't strong enough for the black and white to be successful, e.g. large areas of grass or vegetation.  Two images that worked well in black and white were the beach at Brighton and the woodland in Cumbria.