Heather Anne Loc: Moncks Corner Sc

I was wondering since I have seen it mentioned several times on this site, what does it mean by the rules of third?

arphot Loc: Massachusetts

Picture your image divided into 9 squares (3x3). By placing certain parts of your image within these squares, you are making your composition more interesting. In other words, don't center everything. Using the rule of thirds allows the viewer to get a perspective of your main subject by placing it amongst items in the background and periphery. Here's some more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

Heather Anne Loc: Moncks Corner Sc

Thank you so much for helping out.

DB Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

Think of a Tic Tac Toe set of lines... you will have 3 levels both horizontally and vertically. Placing the main subject of your photo in one of boxes or at the point where the lines intersect give the eye a more pleasing view. Having said that... it is just a guideline... occassionally, you will find a shot that looks best CENTERED... take a couple shots of the same subject but place the subject in a different parts of the grid and then see which is more appealing to your eye... Experimentation is key.

Subject on left vertical third


Subject Centered


subject on lower horizontal third

Heather Anne Loc: Moncks Corner Sc

Ok, cool think I got it, thanks for showing the pictures, love the frog. I will practice and try diffent spots with my pictures. Thanks for explaining it to me.

DB Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

You are very welcome... I find that a visual usually works to cement something into my brain. Happy to help, if you have any other questions please let me know

evandr Loc: Tooele, Utah

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The rule of thirds has been around for several thousand years. It was developed by the ancient Greeks and is known as the "Greek mean" rule which has its roots in the very real physiological effect of what is known as the Golden section/proportion sequence, a sequence or proportion of height Vs width, the application of which is all around us, the most common being the proportions of the common credit card and the 35mm film frame. This Golden Frame has a ratio of approximately 1:1.6 - not surprisingly this ratio is the crop factor between a full frame FX Camera such as the Nikon D700 and the Cropped DX frame of most other cameras such as the Nikon D3100

By mentally dividing your frame into 9 equal sections and then placing your subject(s) in one of the resulting outlying frames (or multiple frame blocks), or points of interest at one of the four points where the vertical and horizontal lines converge (sometimes known as the power points), will give the picture a more calming and pleasing appeal (It’s a mental thing the reality of which psychologists have yet to fully understand).

A horizon should always be on the top or bottom third line depending on what you are trying to showcase but there are some exceptions. First, it is OK (and many times preferable) to place your subject in the middle of the frame when it fills the frame and is isometric, meaning that the right and left or top and bottom are identical (or near identical). The exception to horizons comes into play when the subject is mirrored such as a shot of a mountain or trees mirrored over a lake; in such a case placing the mirrored split in the center of the frame is often the best choice.

When the subject is unclear or abstract try to place object hard lines (a pole, a rope, an outstretched arm, a line between high and low contrast, etc...) or implied lines (direction of travel is one example) nearly in line with your imaginary grid lines or, another trick is to place lines so they closely intersect opposing corners of the grid on a diagonal; this is why tilting your camera slightly when framing the shot can produce a more esthetically pleasing picture; a tilted horizon, even on a close-up or action shot produces implied motion and/or urgency; keep in mind that this technique should be used infrequently and only slightly (7 to 10 degrees at most) tilting toward the power points (almost always away from the closest edge of the picture) or used very sparingly if the angle is greater than 10 degrees; you will be labeled as an amateur if the majority of what you shoot is greatly angled.

In short, although the rule of thirds is an important rule to consider, rules are made to be broken, a good professional photographer will use this as a starting point and then seek to develop his/her eye to a point that framing a shot becomes natural, seeing the best frame given the subject at hand. Having such a developed sense makes it possible for a photographer to have a refined sense of the emotions that the shot will induce in others; this gives the photographer something else to focus other than the depth of field seen by the eye. This is one primary difference between a point-and-shoot shutterbug (regardless of the camera and equipment) and a real professional photographer.

BOB Loc: Texas

On my Canon when I use live , instead of the view finder it has a tic tac toe grid on there.

arphot Loc: Massachusetts

There ya go. Built in 3rds.

myts10 Loc: SE Ohio

To me, the easiest way to learn about the rules of composition has been measuring others photos. I have what is known as a “quilting ruler”. It is clear plastic with the 0 in the middle, mine is 16 inches long. It is very easy to divide the picture into thirds with 0 falling on a rule of thirds line. As an example, on a portrait but the 0 on the line of the eyes. You should have twice as much distance to the bottom as there is to the to. Like 2 inches to the top and 4 to the bottom.

Also consider the “diagonal” rule of composition. I have read that the human eye naturally sees from the bottom right to the upper left. Place your ruler from corner to corner. You will notice that the rule of thirds points also fall along this line.

There is also the “Golden Rule” close to the rule of thirds. The Golden Spiral, based on the rotation of the Milky Way, and the Rabatment of the Rectangle used may many master painters for hundreds of years. You will have to look those up.

Yes, rules are made to be broken. But very seldom are. Look at 1000 very good pictures and you can find a rule of composition in 999 of them.

evandr Loc: Tooele, Utah

You are very right but you speak of the destination while I speak of the journey. True, the best works of art almost always follow one or more of the rules but only a sufficiently trained eye will see it, others will like the work and not know exactly why they might prefer one over another.

The rule of thirds is not the only consideration when framing a picture. Some compositions have no clear way to fit precisely according to the "rules" so the artist (photographer) must discern how best to proceed in order to make the work the best it can be and that takes practice and talent, sufficient talent to make other aspects of the work, things like lighting, DOF, Bokeh and color, make up the shortcomings of the frames lack of ability to compositionally follow one or more of the rules.

I guess what I am trying to say is that one should not get so hung up on the rules that they never pat themselves on the back for doing a good job otherwise. It's like Bryan Peterson always say when he closes a lecture or training session "You just keep shooting!"

If a person is always cognoscente of the rules without getting burdened down to the point of not taking the picture then the talent will come through persistent trial, error, and experience, it just takes time and dedication. I am quite sure that the road to the talent necessary to produce the 1000 works you spoke of was paved with countless failures that helped to polish the skills of the artists. I have seen a great many pictures that could have been made better but were still excellent as they were.

Heather Anne Loc: Moncks Corner Sc

Thanks everyone for such great advice, it has been very informative.