Project 52 Week 11: Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is one of the first rules of composition that many photographers learn.

The basic thought behind the rule of thirds is that you are mentally breaking your photo up into thirds so that your photo is divided into nine equal parts divided by two evenly spaced horizontal and two evenly spaced vertical lines.

All important compositional elements( or your subject) should be placed somewhere along those lines or intersecting points

Making your photo more interesting, or more pleasing to the eye.

When taking a photo, , imagine your photo divided as above. Think about what your subject is, or what is most important in your photo and then position those subjects or elements near the lines or at the intersections of the grid. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but close.

For example….

Settings: Aperture : f/4.0 Shutter Speed: 1/1250 ISO 640

Cdub( making a VERY RARE appearance here) is placed on the along the left third of the frame rather than smack dab in the middle.

Settings:f/4 Shutter Speed 1/320 ISO 1600

Same with these strawberries. While sometimes, I LIKE a center composition, the negative space on the left hand after composing this photo using the rule of thirds makes it more interesting I think.

Family Portrait

Settings:f/4 Shutter Speed: 1/1250 ISO:400

And last but not least, this photo. This photo not only uses the rule of thirds but another compositional element called leading lines. The subject here is Pookah and us( our shadows). The lines of the sidewalk and placing Pookah along the vertical line on the right helps make this photo more interesting than it could be.

Tip: Something I learned a few years ago that has really helped: since you don’t have a grid when you are composing your photos with a DSLR, use your focus points. Usually, the outer focal points are somewhere along the grid and are perfect for helping you to compose your photo. Especially when you are just learning, it helps you to have a good idea of how your subject will fall along the rule of thirds. And the beauty of using your camera phone is that you can have the rule of thirds grid up when you take your photos in most of the photo apps and even the native camera of your phone. Because yes, just because you are using your phone doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay attention to composition! A camera is a camera!

Now, go forth and practice! And let me see what you’ve got!

head on over to Mimi to see what she’s sharing this week!

Next week’s theme is Photographer’s choice! Show us a photo and tell a story with it!  Now link up!

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