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. By just putting your subject in the correct position, you will have a photo complying with it.

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. Four intersection points will be formed at the meeting points between each nonparallel pair of lines . In general, the lines together with the intersection points should be used to align the main subjects of your photos so as to have one that complies with the Rule of Thirds.

Photographing at close range will yield a subject that is too big to be framed as a whole. Instead of aligning the subject itself, interesting parts within it are the ones that should be aligned. In case of facial portraits, for example, the face usually covers most, if not all, of the viewfinder leaving the facial features to be aligned. Eyes are usually placed along the top horizontal line. This is mainly because eyes are the most important feature of the face, and that by doing so, the rest of the facial features will be well placed inside the photo too.

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.

Despite being important to the composition, some flexibility should exist when applying this rule. For instance, if you align everything in perfect compliance with the rule just to discover that an essential part will not be included inside the frame, slightly moving the viewfinder to include all the details will not cause any damages. 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.

The Rule of Thirds is an easy to learn, yet very effective technique. When used correctly, it will take your photographs to a whole new level.

Go to CanvasPrintsOnline to learn more and get your FREE photography eBook.