Leading lines are one of the most fundamental and powerful tools a photographer has for creating compelling compositions that invite the viewer into the frame. If you find yourself unsure of how to use leading lines, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features an experienced landscape photographer giving an in-depth explanation of the different kinds of leading lines and how to leverage them to create more powerful landscape photos. 

Coming to you from Mike Smith, this awesome video tutorial will show you the ins and outs of using leading lines in landscape photography. As Smith details, one of the most common errors when employing leading lines is not giving them a destination. Leading lines that lead to nowhere can make the viewer feel unsatisfied, as there is an inherent implication of a destination when they appear in an image. Often, the lines do not necessarily have to lead anywhere in reality, only appear to, the illusion of which can usually be accomplished by changing your perspective. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Smith. 

And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, “Photographing the World: Japan With Elia Locardi!” 

What better way to mark the World Photography day today than celebrating the contemporary photography of our beautiful and endangered planet with the winning images of Planet Earth Life Framer photography awards.

Open to amateur, emerging and professional artists from around the globe, this independent photography prize showcases images chosen across diverse themes by globally-known judges.

Citing Henry David Thoreau’s notion that “heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads,” the competition asks: “What comes to mind when you think of Planet Earth? Is it the vast stretches of wilderness, the intricate ecosystems that breathe life into our existence, or perhaps the sad damage that humankind wreaks on it?”

These prizewinning images of our shared planet, its landscapes and our influence on them both celebrate Earth’s splendour and acknowledge the indelible mark humanity leaves on it. From untouched snow-covered jungles to pristine rolling sand dunes via endless blue ocean, we’re confronted by the breathtaking beauty of a planet too vast and varied to ever know in full.

And yet colossal open-pit mines, towering concrete barriers and raging forest fires remind us of the pressures we exert in our unfettered quest for human progress – the latter more relevant than ever as heat waves sweep across swathes of Europe, Asia and the United States. These images act as both a source of awe and a call to action. Heaven is under our feet and it’s worth protecting.”

All the winning images can be seen here.

This image of a lonely tree thriving in a drought-stricken Austrlian landscape symbolizes the resilience of the natural world and the innate ability of life to adapt and endure even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.

The tree stands like a lone soldier on the battlefield at dawn, its exposed tree roots in contrast to the softly lit, misty background as the dusty terrain offers little but sand and dirt.

An emotional and powerful image capturing the resilience of a western chimpanzee amidst the aftermath of a bushfire. The scorched earth and charred vegetation serve as a stark reminder of the challenges for wildlife in the face of environmental disasters.

This destruction is happening to our ‘shared home’, the Earth we inhabit along with many other species. Yet it is only the human species causing the environmental changes and loss of biodiversity to our planet.

In West Africa, population growth is accompanied by the expansion of bush farming and the West African chimpanzee, already a critically endangered species, is under increasing threat.

Chimpanzees are vital to the well-being of the forests and, by extension, to the local people who, in addition to farming, depend on forest resources for their livelihoods.

Chimpanzees spread fruit, plant seeds and prune trees, maintaining and helping the forest to regenerate.

There is a subtlety to this scene of natural wonder — most of the images online of ‘Rainbow Mountain’ suffer from over-saturation — however here the photographer chooses to give the earthy tones dominance and allow the spectrum of color from the mountain to naturally radiate and reflect in the daylight.

In the foreground, the horseman walks towards the mountain pass as the exposed layers of the minerals echo his horse’s coat of colors.

An astonishing, otherworldly scene as shape and shadow momentarily skew perspective. This viewpoint of the earth’s natural formations, taken from above, is a reminder of how much more of this world there is to explore and appreciate.

A paradise of white sand dunes, blue skies and crystal waters offers a pure experience of freedom at Lençóis Maranhese National Park in Brasil.

While hundreds of tourists reach the dunes every day, each can find his own path in the immensity. Loneliness is rendered both soft and powerful at this exciting sandscape.

Winter scenery of the Armenian South Highlands provides a dense, jungle-like forest contrasted against the rugged mountains in the foreground. The image seems like a curious juxtaposition as a winterscape setting appears where dry, arid scenes normally greet a visitor.

A ghostly figure looks as if painting and photography have merged in a scene of task and tradition.

Marquesas, in French Polynesia, is the farthest inhabited archipelago from a continent.

Derived from that of the cowboys, a unique equestrian culture inherited from colonial times has developed particularly on the island of Ua Huka, nicknamed The Horse Island.

Vohi Brown, is one of the last few proud horsemen to live with horses. Horse riding has slowly but surely been replaced by gleaming Japanese pick-up trucks even on those “end of the world islands.”

In this photo, Vohi is on a horseback night hunt for wild pigs, a way to sustain his family with fresh food and to maintain a close connection with the wild.

The little girl’s apparent disinterest in the burning horizon is an alarming sign of how common these disastrous sights have become — as if a reflection of the general public’s reaction of indifference to the climate crisis.

Due to global warminh, these wildfires are now dangerously more common worldwide and countries that would never have normally experienced these infernos are now firefighting — literally, figuratively and politically — on an annual basis. The arresting photograph comes with a stark warning.

Smoke from this fire casts a shadow on Las Vegas about 60 miles away. “There’s something about the shot…the way my daughter isn’t looking…captures a certain kind of emotion of the planet crying and no one paying attention,” the photographer writes. “This fire likely won’t make the news. I posted this with a Native American proverb: ‘We do not inherit the earth from out ancestors, we borrow it from our children.’”

A veil of ominous mud has covered each surface in the aftermath of a flood, heightening the reality of the fallout from the climate crisis when all the known imagery becomes unrecognizable.

Beneath the children’s feet are trampled, wilting shrubs — presumably vibrant in the right conditions, but here they wither and decay — and the dreary grey sky anchors the somber tone, adding a feeling of hopelessness to the scene.

The towering chimneys and tall, industrial fencing are a reminder of decisions made by previous generations — decisions without consideration for the health of our planet or the future of following generations.

Boundaries between urban and wild are blurred by the photographer in this concept of landscape in a monochrome perspective. The detail of foliage, the shape of the trees and many forms of flowers fill the scene, almost as reminders of a land in transition.

Little Skellig Island is a dark, rocky outcrop inhabited by Ireland’s largest bird: the Northern Gannet. Massive migration occurs between May and September, making it the second-largest Gannet Sanctuary in the world. It is nature preserved and uninhabitable by man.

A giant rock that juts out of the Atlantic Ocean proudly accommodates its more than 1,000 inhabitants.

A project in Japan to record the ancient landscapes of the country uses the wet plate process to inspire a sense of awe and more acute awareness of the wonders of our planet.

A vast vista of unusually shaped, natural rock formations envelop the landscape. The solo observer appears both isolated and comfortable in the surroundings, absorbing the atmosphere and appreciating the moment.

Solon Holstein was a neuro-clinical psychologist in private practice in Eureka for 35 years before he retired. He also served as director of the North Coast Center for Pain Management in conjunction with Humboldt Neurology.

After retiring 25 years ago, Holstein shifted paths, becoming passionate about photography and capturing “the magnificence of nature as I saw it.”

“When young, I was always in a hurry to get somewhere,” he said. “I never really saw the beauty of the world around me. Photography taught me to stop and really look.”

Now, Holstein is heading down yet another road unknown. He is dying. He has lymphoma, and is under the care of Hospice of Humboldt.

“I am most grateful for their loving and attentive care,” Holstein said.

Shelley, Holstein’s wife of 50 years, added, “Hospice is amazing in terms of really caring for him. They are helping him through this dying process and making him as comfortable as possible and making him feel safe, providing him with whatever he needs and just being there for him.”

Next weekend, the Holsteins are holding a special fundraiser to give back to the nonprofit Hospice of Humboldt, which has been providing heartfelt end-of-life care and bereavement services to all who need them in northern Humboldt County since 1979.

A photography show of Solon Holstein’s work will take place Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 26 and 27, at The Barn, 6687 Humboldt Hill Road, Eureka. Everyone is welcome. All proceeds from art sales will go to Hospice of Humboldt.

Shelley Holstein says she came up with the idea for this fundraiser one day after walking into her husband’s photography studio, which is located in their home.

“I went, ‘Oh, my God, what am I going to do with all of these photographs? He (has) at least 50 framed photographs and maybe a couple hundred other photographs in folders, etc.,” she said. “… In reality, I think there’s something like 34,000 on his computer.”

She added, “I was sitting around talking to my friends and we thought, ‘Why don’t we have a show of all of his wonderful photographs? Why not honor him by showing all of these amazing photographs that he’s been taking.”

Solon Holstein first got interested in photography about three decades ago, shortly after he and his wife purchased a lake house in the small town of Rome, Maine.

“This friend and he would love to go out into the wilderness and photography,” Shelley Holstein said. “Solon just started to look at all of this beauty. He bought himself a really great camera, and then he used to love to go out in the kayak and get as close as you’re allowed to get to loons, which isn’t that close. … So, he started to buy bigger lenses, he bought bigger cameras, he bought filters.

“We used to laugh at him, because he’d carry around this huge bag with all this equipment. … He just had a love of this art that was amazing,” she said.

Over the years, her husband took photographs of nature both near and far, including in different parts of Europe, the Balkans, Patagonia and, most notably, Maine, where he reveled in photographing birds.

All sales of Solon Holstein’s photography next weekend will be by donation, with minimum suggested donations posted by each piece. Shelley Holstein plans to be at the sale much of the time, and hopes her husband may also make an appearance.

“We’re going to hope that Solon can come some of the time,” she said. “We’re not sure how he’s going to feel on any particular day. … We hope he’ll come. Anyone who knows him knows he’s the kindest, sweetest, loving man who has this amazingly artistic (talent).”

Hospice of Humboldt CEO Dianne Keating says she is “incredibly grateful” the Holsteins are hosting this photography fundraiser.

“It is always an honor to hear that others want to fund raise on our behalf, and especially touching when it’s from patients and families that our team is currently supporting through end of life,” Keating said. “… The heartfelt care and grief support services we have provided for nearly 45 years has only been possible through a deep commitment to our mission, the generosity of our community and from supporters like Solon and Shelley.”

For more information about Hospice of Humboldt, go to https://www.hospiceofhumboldt.org/.