Rule of thirds

[Photog]

Wil,
Your examples in Post #13 are good. You also noticed the subject was a little too close to center, in the first one. Use your computer to crop off a bit of the image, behind the mom/child subject. This should place them nicely along the right-hand 1/3 line.

In the "Rule of Thirds" there are lines and power points. Cutting the image into equal thirds, either horizontally or vertically, gives you 1/3 lines. The points where these lines cross, are called "Power Points".

The horizontal 1/3 lines are a great place to try locating the horizon. Place the horizon at the lower line, if the sky is interesting. Place the horizon at the upper line, or further up, if the sky is blah.

Subjects can be placed on the vertical lines, horizontal lines, or at the power points. This all depends on the shape, size, etc.

With one subject, try zooming out, and make 4 images; one with the subject at each of the 4 power points. Then zoom in, and try placing the subject along each of the lines (you may need to rotate the camera 90 degrees for two of these). Lay all these out, and see which ones "feel" the best.

As stated before: The "Rule of Thirds" is always a good place to start. Then try breaking the rules, or stretching them a bit.

Cheers

 

[Lost Canadian]

This is a rule that is meant to be broken...once learned, understood *and* mastered.

Funny you mention that Michael, as I was just going through some of my more recent shots, and I don't think a single one adhered to this so called "rule." They, whoever they are who came up with the rule, should rename it the mildly suggestive general use of thirds. :elkgrin:

A better way to learn, in my own experience anyway, is to forgo the rules, simply slow down and really look. Look through that little viewfinder, analyze the way all the things are placed within it, and say to yourself, "now does that look good?" If not, move around until things do look good. You'll begin to understand placement better if you let go of the grids and crosshairs and just react naturally to what you are seeing.

 

[flyingwil]

Wil,
Your examples in Post #13 are good. You also noticed the subject was a little too close to center, in the first one. Use your computer to crop off a bit of the image, behind the mom/child subject. This should place them nicely along the right-hand 1/3 line.

In the "Rule of Thirds" there are lines and power points. Cutting the image into equal thirds, either horizontally or vertically, gives you 1/3 lines. The points where these lines cross, are called "Power Points".

The horizontal 1/3 lines are a great place to try locating the horizon. Place the horizon at the lower line, if the sky is interesting. Place the horizon at the upper line, or further up, if the sky is blah.

Subjects can be placed on the vertical lines, horizontal lines, or at the power points. This all depends on the shape, size, etc.

With one subject, try zooming out, and make 4 images; one with the subject at each of the 4 power points. Then zoom in, and try placing the subject along each of the lines (you may need to rotate the camera 90 degrees for two of these). Lay all these out, and see which ones "feel" the best.

As stated before: The "Rule of Thirds" is always a good place to start. Then try breaking the rules, or stretching them a bit.

Cheers

Thanks Brian,

I'll give it a "shot."

 

[DiploStrat]

Room to Run

Will,

One of the nice things about digital photography is that you can play with the images a lot. Cropping is one of the simplest and most powerful tools you have. Another is the choice of landscape or portrait composition - the same object can have a totally different meaning in each layout.

Consider your two images. For giggles, try recropping them so that:

-- Instead of the waterfall in the center, you have the woman and child all the way to the left with the open space to the right.

-- Instead of the crawling child on the right, put her to the left, right against the edge of the picture.

What you should see is that the pictures become very "uncomfortable" and, as previously noted, lose their context or message. You can't see what the woman and child see and you don't care about the empty grass. Similarly, the crawling child has run out of room and that looks odd.

For the child, you might also consider whether she should be high or low in the image. What is the secondary theme? Open blue sky? Expanse of grass? A toy on the grass? Where is she going? Where is she coming from?

Of course, you might break all of these rules and put a person or vehicle pointed hard to one side if your message was "the end of the road."

As suggested, take a few shots and play with various compositions. You will probably find that you can do a lot to increase the imact of your images.

Best wishes,