Rule of Thirds in Photography

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By guest | August 31, 2009

As you are interested in photography, then you must have heard about the Rule of Thirds. Basically, it relies on how the humans eye perceive a photograph . The rule’s job is to put emphasis on the parts of the photo which will first grab the attention of the eye.

While the Rule of Thirds is very important for composing good photographs, it is also the easiest to understand and apply of all the photography rules. All you need is just to know how you should frame your subject.

A photograph is divided into a 3×3 grid similar to that of thee famous Tic-tac-toe game. This is done by putting four lines (two horizontal and two vertical) each at one third of the photograph, hence the name of the rule. Thus, we will have four intersection points, each of which is a hot-spot for framing the subjects . These four points along with the lines should be used as guides on which you should align your subjects.

In case of closeups, the subject itself will probably be bigger than the whole frame. As a result, interesting features within the subject should be aligned instead. An interesting example of this case is a closeup portrait where the facial features are the objects that form the composition. Eyes are usually placed along the top horizontal line. This will put emphasis on the eye, frame the whole face, and leave no details out of the picture.

Landscape photographers use this rule too. A lone subject in the foreground (a tree for example) is a perfect candidate to be aligned to one of the vertical lines. Horizons in the background, if any, should be placed along one of the horizontal lines. Some landscape photos may contain other elements in the background like clouds or mountains. In this case, a more general approach is recommended in which the different parts of the scene are considered as layers to be separated in the different sections (thirds) of the photograph.

In photography, it is very important to know exactly when to break the rules. There are some instances where the perfect alignment should be sacrificed for a better overall composition, such as when some important details are missing just outside the frame. In other situations the rule is usually neglected, like when trying to balance reflection with the real subjects inside the frame. A more conventional alignment in this case is to put the line separating the real from the reflection exactly at the center.

In general, this rule is a main element of good composition. By using it, you will be able to produce photos that are very appealing to the eyes.

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