SKP PhotoTips - the Rule of Thirds

It's very tempting when you see an eye-catching subject, to put it right smack in the middle of the frame.  After all, that's what you're photographing.  The problem is that putting the subject centre stage leaves you with an image that feels unbalanced or even downright boring, as in the example below:

The Rule of Thirds states that you should divide the image into thirds horizontally and vertically, as in this drawing:

Now you can start to have all sorts of fun.  Firstly, you have the four points where lines within the image intersect.  Placing the subject or main feature of a subject at any of these points will result in a more interesting photo.

Second, using any of the horizontal or vertical lines as a guide will also give you a better photo.  Have a look at the first image again, but this time as it was actually taken:

The subject is positioned on the left side vertical third, giving more room to the right.  But that's not all - the couple's faces, which are the main feature of the subject, are placed at the top left intersection.  Their reflection faces are at the bottom left intersection.

An important side note:  be careful of having two equally strong subjects in the same image.  Pay attention to how your eye moves as you look at a photo.  It tends to move around the image but always returning to rest on what catches it the most.  If you have two subjects that attract the eye equally, it becomes confused, leaving the viewer unable to decide where to look.  In the photo above we have the subject shown twice, but notice how the reflection isn't as strong as the actual couple, as well as being upside down.  We notice the reflection and may wander off to look at the dam wall (drawn by its movement through the frame and its placement on the top right intersection), but we frequently and ultimately return to the couple.

The Rule of Thirds also applies to landscapes.  Have a look at the photo from last week's tip (click HERE).  Notice how the girl is on the left vertical third line, but where's the horizon?  A third of the way up from the bottom of the frame.

We'll discuss landscape composition further in a future post, but a basic rule of thumb is: Don't put the horizon in the middle of the photo.  Of course, as they say: rules are meant to be broken, but you have to know them before you can break them effectively.  In the meantime, here are another couple of photos demonstrating the Rule of Thirds: