The Famous Rule of Thirds in Photography

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 . That’s why, according to the rule, the subject should be placed along imaginary lines indicating the best spots within the photograph.

The reason why this rule is very well known is that it is pretty easy to apply. 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. Thus, we will have four intersection points, each of which is a hot-spot for framing the subjects . 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.

In case of closeups, the subject itself will probably be bigger than the whole frame. As a result, interesting features within the subject should be aligned instead. 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 will put emphasis on the eye, frame the whole face, and leave no details out of the picture.

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. As for the background, horizons are usually aligned to one of the horizontal lines. A landscape scene may contain fields, mountain or clouds. These can also be aligned to the lines of thirds and, if possible, separated in different thirds, producing a well composed 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. Another example is when trying to create the mirroring effect using reflections. Here, the mirror line (the line separating the reflection from the real) is usually aligned at the middle.

The Rule of Thirds is an easy to learn, yet very effective technique. By using it, you will be able to produce photos that are very appealing to the eyes.

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