Today’s tip comes from www.earthboundlight.com. Whether you are a brand new of seasoned photographer, the Rule of Thirds is a great formula to follow to get a great shot. What is the Rule of Thirds, you ask?
Basically, when composing a photo, look through the lens and imagine a tick-tac-toe board- 2 vertical lines and 2 horizontal lines across whatever it is you’re viewing, making 9 equal sized boxes like so:
As the site says, “aligning your subject along one of these lines can help to create a more pleasing image.” For an even more interesting image, try positioning your subject at one of the intersections of the lines. The line intersections are often called “power points”. The Rule of Thirds can be useful in many situations, but I find it most useful when I am photographing a horizon. Before I learned this rule, I often positioned the horizon directly in the center of the photo. This led to a lack of depth and an unclear subject. Aligning the horizon with one of the horizontal lines can really add to the quality of the shot.
To illustrate just how effective “power points” can be, look at this picture. The animal’s eyes are positioned relatively close to on dot the intersections, as is the animal’s nose.
This shot automatically becomes more interesting, especially when compared to a shot with the animal in the dead center of the picture.
That’s all for today!
-Valerie
Copyright © 2004, 2005 Bob Johnson, Earthbound Light
http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/rule-of-thirds.html
