The rule of thirds simply suggests that you place your subject on one of the places that those lines intersect. Master the fundamentals of photography, from the basics to advanced techniques, and become a professional photographer. Instead, the main focal point is a bit off to one side.
Recommended for you: Free 4-week Photography course. By placing the subject off center, you also embrace more blank space. The rule of thirds is also helpful for highlighting an interesting background. Off-centered subjects tend to convey more of a feeling of motion than centered ones. So, the rule of thirds suggests placing the subject off center. But which of those intersecting lines should you use? If the subject is small, use an intersection of the grid. If the subject is largeor long, try placing it along one entire line.
So, if you are taking a portrait and the subject is looking towards the left, place them on that grid line on the right. Image by Megan Leetz. It's a good idea to position people off to one side of the frame.
This provides some "breathing space", shows the subject's environment, and stops the photo from looking like a mugshot. We are naturally drawn to people's eyes. Place them at one of the intersections on the rule of thirds grid to give the shot a clear focal point. Image by Prem Anandh. Here the main subject has been placed at one of the intersections, and also along one a vertical line.
The twig roughly follows the top horizontal line. The empty space at the bottom left provides balance and prevents the picture from feeling overcrowded. Image by Dennis Jarvis. Vertical subjects such as this lighthouse can split a photo in two, in much the same way as a horizon can do horizontally.
To avoid this, position them off-centre in your composition. Image by muskva. When photographing moving subjects, position them as normal, but also pay attention to the direction they're moving. As a general rule you should leave more space in front of them than behind, to show where they're going. You can easily apply the rule of thirds to existing photos by cropping them.
This allows you to reposition the important subjects in your image, moving them into more pleasing positions. Strictly following the rules will limit your creativity and will have a negative impact on your photography. Some of my personal favorites do have the main subject placed in the center of the frame, or the horizon split in the middle of the image. Do you want to learn more about compositions and the fundamentals of landscape photography?
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Here, you can position points of interest, such as a head when shooting a portrait , a flower when shooting a still life , or the eye of a pet, as shown in the image below:. Despite its name, the rule of thirds is a guideline , not a hard-and-fast rule.
You can absolutely create beautiful compositions without using the rule of thirds. At the same time, the rule of thirds is an excellent way to get started with composition.
It consistently produces great results, and even professional photographers use it all the time in their work. Plus, as a wise person once told me: if you intend to break a rule, you should always learn it first. That way, you can make sure you break it as effectively as possible. First, by positioning key elements at rule of thirds intersections or gridlines, your photo becomes more balanced. Your key elements create visual interest in a third of the composition, while also balancing out the empty space in the remaining two-thirds.
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