The Rule Every Photographer Must Know: The Rule of Thirds
Categories: Featured, Shooting
Written By: lightstalking
When it comes to learning photography, there are some rudimentary rules and skills that everyone needs to understand quickly if they are going to start producing great images.
In the world of art and photography, no rule is more fundamental than the Rule of Thirds.
The Rule of Thirds is basically a compositional guide that recommends that any image should be (imaginarily) divided into nine sections by equally spaced vertical and horizontal lines (like a tic tac toe grid). Any major elements within the image should be placed along these lines and preferably at the points of intersection.
Take this photograph for instance:
It is important to remember that the Rule of Thirds is really only a guideline. There are many times when it is acceptable to break this convention. For people who are new to photography however, it is a good guide to creating well composed photographs.
Some other image that utilise the Rule of Thirds in their composition:
[Abstract]
[Landscape]
[Landscape]
As you can see, the Rule of Thirds can really help – especially with basic composition for basic subjects.
Related Articles:
April 26th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
[...] of beach photos is just as important as any other type of photography. Remember to consider the rule of thirds and you shouldn’t go too far wrong with your beach [...]
October 19th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Thanks! This is very helpful!
December 25th, 2009 at 2:38 am
These are stunning examples of the Rule of Thirds. Thank you so much.
Warm wishes,
Mia Rose
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:43 pm
In our Visual Journalism courses here at Winona State University (Minnesota), we've moved toward calling it “The Guide of Thirds.” We found students took the “rule” too literally and began to compose every image this way, regardless of content. It's a great way to enhance composition of most images, and these (above) are stunning, beautiful examples. But, clearly, there are some images that would be better suited with a more symmetrical treatment. Thanks for a thought-provoking, helpful article.
February 8th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
[...] These photos of lighthouses show that if you’re willing to wait for the right lighting and compose your shot well, the resulting images can be fantastic. We put this collection together from the great [...]
March 18th, 2010 at 2:41 am
, . . , thanks for the tips, examples, etc. , guys, , , i like them and i learned something……….
, . . , great photos also…………….
July 28th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
[...] photography is very subjective, but most will agree that, to some form or another, following the rule of thirds will help achieve a great looking photo. One way to do this is incorporating roads and paths into [...]
August 29th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
[...] composition. We have covered several compositional elements of photography previously such as the photographer’s rule of thirds and the s-curve, but let’s move on to some other less stringent “rules” for [...]