![]() Why does the photography rule of thirds work? Some people believe that it’s because it’s a rough approximation of the Golden Mean (also known as the Golden Ratio or Divine Ratio). See the section on visual weight to understand the effect of doing this. You can “stretch” the photography rule of thirds for a more dramatic effect by placing your horizon (or your main subject) even closer to the edge of the frame, as in the above example. If you have a dramatic sky, by all means, give it two thirds of the picture space! Whether you place the horizon closer to the top or closer to the bottom of the picture space depends on which you want to emphasize more: the land or the sky. This ends up looking dull and uninteresting. Once again, fight your natural tendency! Without being taught otherwise, most amateur photographers will place their horizon in the middle. Main and secondary focal points at diagonally-opposite thirds positions.Ī natural extension to the photography rule of thirds is to place your horizon line along the one-third or two-third line of the tic tac toe grid, rather than in the middle. If you place your primary focal point at the thirds position, you can place a secondary focal point at the diagonally opposite thirds position, as in the following images. You can enhance the picture composition even more by creating a counterpoint. Two thirds green trees, one third sequoia. Following is another example where the picture space is divided horizontally into a one-third and two-thirds ratio: The imbalance results in a more dynamic image. In general, the idea is to divide up the picture space into areas in a 1:2 ratio (one third and two thirds), rather than equal halves. Many amateurs place flowers right in the middle.Īn off-center composition with a diagonal element is more pleasing.Ĭentral placement of the flower is predictable and static. If balance is what you are trying to express, then central placement of your subject may be just the way to go! Now, this is where the photography rule of thirds becomes a guideline. There’s no tension, no tug in either direction. The object is balanced, and therefore at rest. ![]() If an object is an equal distance from all sides, there is no implied need to move. The turtle’s eye is in the thirds position.Ĭentral placement of objects is static. Placing it at the intersection of the tic tac toe lines (also known as the thirds position) produces a nicely balanced image. However, the result is much more pleasing to the eye. It takes some conscious thought and careful composition to place your center of interest off-center. Bullseye! It’s only natural to line up the camera with what we are paying most attention to. It is interesting to note that we refer to the most significant element of our image as the “ center of interest.” The word " central” is a synonym for “ important.” It comes as no surprise, then, that we instinctively place the subject of our image in the center of the frame. That means our subject is one third of the way “into” the picture space – from either the top or bottom, and from either the left or right. The photography rule of thirds tells us to align our subject with one of the points where those lines cross. ![]() It is all about subject placement within the frame.įirst of all, imagine that your picture space is divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically, like a tic tac toe grid. The rule of thirds is probably the most often referenced photography rule of composition. Check out the Two Minute Tips video on the rule of thirds!
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