C.C.P.I.C.S. - Class 02 - Rule of Thirds

Welcome to:

Class 2: Rule-of-Thirds

This assignment will impart one of the basic foundations of composition. While exposure and focus are contributors to a good photo, how you place the subject in the frame can be just as important.

The concept of the rule of thirds proposes that by aligning the subject off-center, it adds a dynamic feeling to a photograph. The viewer is either drawn to the subject or led from the subject to its environment.

The origin of the concept has its roots in the use of the Golden Rectangle or the Golden Mean by architects and artists as far back as the Pyramids of Giza. Leonardo Da Vinci used it to set proportions in his paintings and illustrations and the face of the Parthenon in Athens is a Golden Rectangle. Interestingly, the Golden rectangle and the mathematical sequence that it is based on will appear quite often in nature. The increasing spirals of a Nautilus shell follow it nearly perfectly. The ratio appears in the positioning of the eyes and other features in the human face and the closer the features are to the Golden Mean, the more attractive the face is to the average viewer. This instinctive reaction to the ratio is what makes the rule of thirds work for a photo. Somewhere in your head, something tells you that it looks “right”.

The ratio of a Golden Rectangle is actually very close to the ratio of a 35mm film frame or an APS-C DSLR sensor (3:2), but the concept still works well with Four-Thirds or P&S cameras (4:3).

Let’s start with the basics. The rule-of-thirds divides the frame into nine equal parts (as shown in the photos below). The idea is to position the subject at the intersection of the lines or in one of the thirds, giving the viewer a sense of the surroundings, framing the subject in a relatively featureless space or drawing their eye towards the subject. Just a note; the surroundings, ideally, should be less interesting than the subject! Horizons should be aligned with one of the lines (regardless if the image is oriented horizontally or vertically). Where the subject is a landscape and the foreground is the subject, the horizon is aligned with the top line. If the sky is the subject, the horizon is aligned with the bottom line. Another use of the rule is to introduce a line that angles from one third to another, leading the eye into the image.

Here are a few examples:

Subject is the sky:

Subject is the foreground:

Subject located at an intersection:

Subject centered in a third and isolated by focus:

Leading into the image:

Diagonal through the thirds:

Just a note on the rule…it was made to be broken! For this excercise we want to use the rule, but there are many situations where the rule is bent or broken for technical purposes, such as architecture or for aesthetics, as in a close up of a rose. Sometimes, the sky and the foreground are both interesting and a centered horizon works well. It never hurts to pop off a few images of a subject, moving it from one third to another to see what works. You may even want to take a centered "tourist shot" of the subject, just to compare the results.

That’s enough to get you started. Go out and put something interesting in a third!

Happy shooting!

Dave

Hi all, especially Dave...thanks for taking the lead on this exciting endeavor!!

I tried to use ROT, a triangle, and three objects....taken with Nikon D80. Thanks, Bill in Pennsylvania.

Well, Here's my attempt:

A view of Pikes Peak at sunset from my window. No filters used for this one. I really hate all the electrical wires in this one, but haven't taken the time to try and edit them all out in Photoshop. Information: Camera - Canon 40d---f 4.5---shutter speed 1/50 at ISO 800.

This concept is so new to me. I just got my camera about 10 months ago and am ashamed to say that I have not learned about it like I should have until I found this board while I am getting ready for my upcoming cruise. I decided to go through some of me old pictures to see if I had ever used this concept even by accident. I only have a few on this computer, but was unable to find 1 picture using thirds. I then decided to crop a few of the pictures into thirds and see how it changed the photo. I was astonished to see how different the picture was when I used the rule. It looked a lot better. I can't wait to be able to get out and use the rule this weekend. I will post.

Okay here is a try at the thirds. This one is shot at opening night of the Tacoma Rainiers from our seats. I was having fun with my new lens that VR on it, and it showed me what it can do. Oh yea this is Wladimir Balenien swinging

Info

Camera Nikon D50

Exposure 1/8

Aperture 5.6

Shot with Aperture priority

focal length 330 at 35mm

I enjoy this picture I hope other do also

I am not sure if I did it right or not. I had trouble finding anything to take a picture of.

ISO 100

exposure 1/250

aperature 5.6

focal length 300mm

For the bird picture the ISO100

Aperature F5.6

Focal length 300mm

Exposure 1/180

Here is another one I took today. I didn't know that taking a pictue of a butterfly was so hard.

Camera: Pentax K10D

focal Lenght 300mm

Exposure 1/180

Apeture F5.6

Here are a few I've already done (in no particular order):

Do these shots make use of the Rule of Thirds?

Being a board about cruising, I walked down to the dock from my office to apply ROT to the Pride of America on its weekly Saturday stop ... to find her displaced at Pier 10 by a really unattractive barge. The barge got the ROT treatment anyway (using the ROT grid built into the camera display).

The planned image was to show the Pride of America waiting at the light, ready to head up Bethel Street (like the X Mercury below, just before we hopped on last November).

I've been trying to use ROT more consistently since taking an on-line photography course a couple of months ago. I turned on the grid in my camera - it helps.

Critique away! (And I'm going to grab my camera and go out and practice...)

I've been trying to use ROT more consistently since taking an on-line photography course a couple of months ago. I turned on the grid in my camera - it helps.

 

What online class did you take. I have been looking into maybe taking one.

Here are a few I've already done (in no particular order):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do these shots make use of the Rule of Thirds?

Are you a professional? These look pro.... And rather intimidating to me as an amateur.... If they aren't pro, wow.......

Are you a professional? These look pro.... And rather intimidating to me as an amateur.... If they aren't pro, wow.......

Nope, I'm not a pro. I DID take a photography class...oh back in 1988 I think (High School). All of those shots were done on my point & shoot Nikon CoolPix 4800. It is a great camera and I've been very happy with with it. I literally JUST GOT a dSLR, but have only taken a handful of photos with it so far and most of them are just 'test' shots. My approach to photography thus far has been: take a lot of shots and find the best ones :D Also, a little PhotoShop never hurt anyone...and can really help frame/crop if your shot needs just a bit more help. Also, I frame & sign my 'pretties' because that is what my art & photography teacher always made us do...I guess it just stuck with me.

Here's a more recent pic, done with the new camera:

Hot off the press. Watched Norwegian Pearl arrive in Victoria this afternoon

while we picnicked.

First is a resize of the original from 3072x2304 to 1000x750.

The second is a crop at 556x406 to compare the positioning. ROT does

make a difference.

Camera Fuji Finepix S700

1/315s

f5.7

ISO 64

39.1mm

set for highest resolution

AUTO

Are you a professional? These look pro.... And rather intimidating to me as an amateur.... If they aren't pro, wow.......

I am glad you said that because I was thinking the same thing

I have known about the ROT's for awhile now and have tried to put into practice as much as I can remember too - :) Last weekend we were caught in a hail storm up in the mountains - and so here is my picture of using the trees as the reminder for ROT.

Nikon D70s

18-35 mm lens

On auto - I'm sure ;)

What online class did you take. I have been looking into maybe taking one.[/quote

 

Go to http://www.ed2go.com and there's a place to put in your zip code to see if a college or university near you offers their on-line classes (they don't offer them directly). I took it through the University of Texas - El Paso's continuing education classes. The first one was Secrets of Better Photography - a great class that taught me a lot on how to get more out of my camera (Sony DSC-H7). I'm taking a travel photography class now - Friday's lesson was on cruising ;).

I'm learning alot already!! Thank you, Dave! This picture of my bench is one of the first I took with my new camera when I got it last week before I started this course.

Dave, you taught me to look at my bench differently. Am I using the rule of thirds? The second picture is more interesting.

c-to-sea,

I really want to visit Sydney on our next cruise!!!

I like your first picture more than the second. Is that the one that is using the ROT?? The ship is positioned to the right third of the photo.

I'm learning alot already!! Thank you, Dave! This picture of my bench is one of the first I took with my new camera when I got it last week before I started this course.

 

 

Dave, you taught me to look at my bench differently. Am I using the rule of thirds? The second picture is more interesting.

 

The change in perspective did indeed make a difference! In the first photo it's a bench. In the second, it's a place you'd want to sit.

Part of photography is learning to see. All of our eyes are sensitive to light. I like to think that photography makes them sensitive to the world around us as well.

The second image is much better than the first in conveying the surroundings. You might want to move the bench to the right third of the scene a little more and include a bit less of the trunk and a bit more of the area in front of the bench.

Cropped:

Just my opinion, your photo was good to begin with.

Dave

Nope, I'm not a pro. I DID take a photography class...oh back in 1988 I think (High School). All of those shots were done on my point & shoot Nikon CoolPix 4800. It is a great camera and I've been very happy with with it. I literally JUST GOT a dSLR, but have only taken a handful of photos with it so far and most of them are just 'test' shots. My approach to photography thus far has been: take a lot of shots and find the best ones :D Also, a little PhotoShop never hurt anyone...and can really help frame/crop if your shot needs just a bit more help. Also, I frame & sign my 'pretties' because that is what my art & photography teacher always made us do...I guess it just stuck with me.

 

Here's a more recent pic, done with the new camera:

 

You took a class! Darn! I need to do that someday!

Nice stuff! More proof that it's less about the camera and more about the eye behind it!

Again, nice stuff!

Dave

I have known about the ROT's for awhile now and have tried to put into practice as much as I can remember too - :) Last weekend we were caught in a hail storm up in the mountains - and so here is my picture of using the trees as the reminder for ROT.

 

Nikon D70s

18-35 mm lens

On auto - I'm sure ;)

I think you have the idea!

Nice atmospheric image.

Dave

Hot off the press. Watched Norwegian Pearl arrive in Victoria this afternoon

while we picnicked.

First is a resize of the original from 3072x2304 to 1000x750.

The second is a crop at 556x406 to compare the positioning. ROT does

make a difference.

 

 

 

Camera Fuji Finepix S700

1/315s

f5.7

ISO 64

39.1mm

set for highest resolution

AUTO

You've got the idea!

Here's my crop of your picture and why:

Moving it down into the bottom third placed it well against its background but the compressed perspective of the long shot gave it nowhere to "go" . I moved it backwards, opening up the area in front to give the inpression that it was proceeding to the left. Does that make sense?

Again, just my opinion...the first crop placed the ship as the definite subject.

Dave