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Theo Sun Aug 6 2006 12:32 pm	Rule of Thirds Can someone please explain this to me? I have trouble understanding it, especially with the photo of the Tiger. Somehow it is stuck in my head that the subject of our interest should be centered.

Mark Sun Aug 6 2006 1:43 pm	About the Rule of Thirds The early Renaissance artists (Da Vinci in particular) are credited with defining the "rule of thirds" although it's been used for much longer throughout history. It's based on the natural tendency of the eye to view a scene in "thirds", and helps to draw a viewer into the photo. Placing a subject dead center in the frame is often less pleasing (with exceptions, of course) because the eye has "nowhere to go" after locking onto the subject. The artist's intent is to guide the viewer through the scene using subtle cues and positions. The photo below is an example, taken way back in 1978 when I was first learning about photo composition. (Click to view larger size) Positioning these statues dead center would have produced a rather dull photo. Instead, I placed them in the left third of the frame, which makes them appear to be looking into the scene, not simply off frame (they are "Guardians" after all). The horizon line (between the line of trees and sky) is in the lower third, giving the sky greater impact. Notice also how the clouds at the top and the rocks at the bottom both lead your eye directly to the statues. All of these cues give the photo much more interest. Here's a good intro to basic rules of composition: http://www.colorpilot.com/comp_rules.html

Theo Mon Aug 7 2006 7:25 pm	Re: Rule of Thirds Thank you for the explaination Mark. It's a lot to absorb but looking at your photo helps a lot. In the photo of the Tiger though, how would that be done? Sometimes I want the photo to be a rememberance of a person, animal or thing, would the Rule of Thirds apply to these as well? Thanks for the link, I have saved it for reading later.

Mark Mon Aug 7 2006 8:52 pm	Re: Rule of Thirds Theo wrote: Thank you for the explaination Mark. It's a lot to absorb but looking at your photo helps a lot. In the photo of the Tiger though, how would that be done? Sometimes I want the photo to be a rememberance of a person, animal or thing, would the Rule of Thirds apply to these as well? Thanks for the link, I have saved it for reading later. The tiger's face is exactly centered in that photo while his body fills the left half of the frame. By cropping tighter and bringing his face up and to the right (to those imaginary 1/3 lines), the tiger dominates the scene and appears more balanced. See the example below. The rule of thirds is just one of many tools the artist can use to enhance an image. It's not a hard and fast rule (pun intended)... you'll learn to know when it applies. I understand your point about wanting a photo "to be a rememberance of a person, animal, or thing". But an artistic approach doesn't change that, of course. A beautifully captured memory is the photographer's goal.

Tina Imholt Tue Aug 8 2006 12:20 am	Re: Rule of Thirds Thanks for asking about this Theo and for showing us how to do it with my Tiger, Mark. I was wondering about it myself.

Mark Tue Aug 8 2006 1:11 pm	More info on composition... I've just drafted a short article on basic rules of composition and put it on the "Technique" page. It adds a bit more info beyond what I wrote earlier in this topic. Feel free to post here if you have more questions or comments!

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