Instantly Improve Your Photos By Guiding The Eye
What Are Paths And Lines And Why Do It?
Basically, when you look at a photo, your eye is naturally drawn to a certain point and to make sure the viewer of your shot focuses on the right spot in your image, you can create a "path" for the eye to follow through the scene. This won't work for every shot but do consider it before hitting the shutter button.
Photo by David Clapp
What To Use As Paths? When shooting outdoors, there are lots of elements that can be used to achieve this effect fairly easily.Examples of paths:
- Lines in crop fields
- Roads
- Fences
- Streams
- Trails
- Walking Paths
For tips on using converging verticals and lines, read this tutorial: When Are Converging Verticals And Lines A Good Thing?
Guide The Eye With Blur If using lines won't work, try using blur to guide the eye to a particular point of focus. For example, this could mean using a shallow depth of field to make your person 'pop' from the frame. For more tips on using apertures creatively, have a look at this tutorial: Creative Aperture / Depth Of Field
We also have this tutorial with a few focusing tips to get you thinking about your photography more creatively: Think About Your Focus
Photo by David Clapp - www.davidclapp.co.uk
Give Moving Objects Space
If you are photographing moving objects, consider which way they are heading. For example, if the object is on the left side of your shot and heading out of the frame, rather than into the centre, this will ultimately lead the eye away from the main body of the image and can also frustrate the viewer with its mystery destination. Having the object, or objects, heading towards the middle of the frame will make the image more pleasing to the eye and will stop the object from guiding the viewer's eye out of frame. For more tips, take a look at this tutorial: Looking/Moving Space.
ePz Member Paul Morgan Has Died
© Paul Morgan
It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of long-time ePHOTOzine member Paul Morgan, who died on 15 November 2025 after battling pancreatic cancer. Paul was a valued part of our community and will be remembered for his creativity, generosity, and love of photography.
In a tribute shared by his son, Leon Morgan:
Paul Conrad Morgan sadly passed away on the 15th November 2025, after battling Pancreatic cancer for much of this year.
Paul was born in London in 1964 before moving to Reading. He was creative and used photography to express this. He would always have a camera with him. He had a love of black and white photography and at one point had a makeshift darkroom set up in the bathroom, and a studio set up in the living room.
He loved the photography community here on ePHOTOzine and would often spend hours browsing users’ portfolios.
Paul would volunteer for the British Thyroid Foundation and received an award for his charity work from Nationwide.
He indulged in his hobby right up to his final days, and has passed it on to myself, his son.
Paul will be remembered fondly in all his photographs he took during his life.
Paul’s dedication to photography and his kindness toward others left a lasting impression on everyone who knew him. His work continues to inspire, and his presence in the community will be greatly missed.
For those who wish to pay their respects, please visit his MuchLoved memorial page or explore his ePHOTOzine profile to see the photographs that defined his journey.
Our thoughts are with Paul’s family, friends, and loved ones at this difficult time.
Tips On Photographing A Simple Still Life Shot
Photo by Peter Bargh. Gear Suggestions:
- A macro lens is very useful but not essential
- Tripod – one where the centre column can be turned horizontal is useful so you can get right in over the surface you’re working on. You could also use a table top tripod.
Before you start you need to make sure your cutlery is clean and that your egg doesn’t have any imperfections.
You need to work where there’s plenty of light so position yourself near a window/ patio doors. Plain backgrounds, particularly reflective ones, work best. Still life tables that have a perspex base work well but try using a piece of white card or plastic tray if you don’t have one. If you have white plastic windowsills try setting your still life up on it but you may need to place a sheet of paper, netting or cloth on the glass to diffuse the light slightly.
When it comes to placement, experimentation is key as there are various ways to arrange your props for a successful shot. However, one that works particularly well is where you balance the egg inside two crossed over forks. Shooting this straight on produces perfectly good results but do try adjusting the angle of your setup or move your feet so you're shooting from a different position.
Make sure your camera focuses on the correct point so you don’t end up with a blurry egg, watch your white balance and if you have a problem with unwanted shadows creeping into your shot, try moving your set-up or any objects nearby that could be casting them.
You can keep your shot in colour or to give more focus to the shapes and structure of the shot, convert it to black & white and / or use a slight vignette to draw the eye to the middle of the photograph.