The Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is one of the simplest of photography rules that every student of the subject learns in the initial theoretical stages. It may not be a lot of fun to learn, but it is absolutely necessary to know how to use it and apply it in your photography.
The rule is quite simple – imagine if you could divide your image into thirds vertically and thirds horizontally, much like a tic tac toe grid. Now, the points of intersection of the vertical and horizontal lines are of interest to us. These, it is believed, are the points that the human eye goes to the instant it lays eyes on the image, even in the absence of the grid of course. It would be great then, wouldn’t it, if you could place your subjects within the composition so that they are near the points of intersection?
Check out the image of a man giving a penny to a lame beggar. Both the man and the beggar are perfectly placed, at points of intersection of the vertical and horizontal lines. Now, it is true that with journalistic images such as these, there is hardly any time for the photographer to think of and to apply something like the rule of thirds! However, it is also true that composition is a gift that comes naturally to some while others have to hone it in through practice. Use the rule of thirds when reviewing your images. Once you get an idea of what you need to shoot like, the rule will uncannily start to show up every time you shoot a well-composed image.
If you are shooting in a studio environment, or any pre meditated shoot for that matter, keep the rule of thirds in mind when planning the composition. And do remember, rules are meant to be broken they say, and there are no hard and fast rules in photography or any form of art for that matter. Rock musicians often break the natural flow of chords to create stunning effects, and photographers too can create fascinating pieces of art by applying or purposely breaking the so called rules. However, the key word here becomes control and awareness. Getting an image right by fluke is one thing, but getting it right through planning and execution is so much more fulfilling. That’s what makes a good photographer after all…
Try this simple experiment – take out many of your favorite images and see how the rule of thirds has worked for you. You will no doubt see a trend in your own photography. Maybe you like placing your subjects in the top right intersection. That could be your very own style! Finally, it would be great if you took a few purposeful photographs, applying the rule in some and breaking it in others. We’d love to hear how you managed to apply and break the rule and still come up with good photographs in either case.
