Rule of Thirds: Do you adhere to the Rule of Thirds when doing family photos or basically photos of people? Sometimes it looks good, but other times if you are taking a group shot, it...

Merlino18

Do you adhere to the Rule of Thirds when doing family photos or basically photos of people? Sometimes it looks good, but other times if you are taking a group shot, it would not be appropriate. Just asking.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Merlino18 wrote:

Do you adhere to the Rule of Thirds when doing family photos or basically photos of people? Sometimes it looks good, but other times if you are taking a group shot, it would not be appropriate. Just asking.

How does the rule of thirds work?

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Merlino18 wrote:

Do you adhere to the Rule of Thirds when doing family photos or basically photos of people? Sometimes it looks good, but other times if you are taking a group shot, it would not be appropriate. Just asking.

As in many situations "It depends" Just to many variables to give a precise answer. If shooting a full face portrait the rule may not work. To some degree it may depend upon what's in the background. Take a look at various publications and the photos therein are all over map with different compositions. This may not be helpful but the rigid following of photographic "rules" is a mistake. In my avatar the rule simply could not be followed. Weather or not it's a good, bad or indifferent I leave to others. It's a tight crop and the owner of the dog liked it, that was good enough for me.

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

Merlino18 wrote:

Do you adhere to the Rule of Thirds when doing family photos or basically photos of people? Sometimes it looks good, but other times if you are taking a group shot, it would not be appropriate. Just asking.

If you fill the frame with your subject/s the "rule of thirds" is usually not applicable. Although in portraits you could fill the frame and have the eyes conform to the rule. Family group shots would be frame filling shots. 8-)

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

It is more of a guide, than a RULE. Unless of course, you are pedantic.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Merlino18 wrote:

Do you adhere to the Rule of Thirds when doing family photos or basically photos of people? Sometimes it looks good, but other times if you are taking a group shot, it would not be appropriate. Just asking.

I try to because in my experience, things on the "3rds" points just "look better" to me.

So yes...I do when I can...a group shot (in my opinion) is an exception EXCEPT to put something meaningful on the "lower" or "upper" 3rd line....OR arrange them so that key people are at the 3rds intersections....you can do a lot with this without being obvious.

Here is just one good example that works for me.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

John_F wrote:

How does the rule of thirds work?

Here is a tutorial on it...
http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds

gsconsolvo Loc: Ruidoso, New Mexico

Shellback wrote:

Here is a tutorial on it...
http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds

Good tutorial :thumbup: :thumbup:

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Merlino18 wrote:

Do you adhere to the Rule of Thirds when doing family photos or basically photos of people? Sometimes it looks good, but other times if you are taking a group shot, it would not be appropriate. Just asking.

Merlino, It's not so much about the rule of thirds as it is about composition.
Most pleasing compositions have some semblance to the rule of thirds. ;-)
SS

flathead27ford Loc: Colorado, North of Greeley

Merlino18 wrote:

Do you adhere to the Rule of Thirds when doing family photos or basically photos of people? Sometimes it looks good, but other times if you are taking a group shot, it would not be appropriate. Just asking.

I just read something about this, which showed a photo of a person's head shot. They said if you do follow the rule of thirds, put their eyes in the top third of the shot. The shot I saw put them in the top right thirds due to the person looking to the right as it were. The shot looked very nice composed like that. Obviously if they are looking left, you would use the top left third intersection. When shooting a group, they say to group the people in threes and have them lean into the trio. Our brains are sort of hard wired for this which makes the picture more pleasing to us subconsciously. Hope this helps. Cheers.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

The rule of thirds is a rule of thumb. I wouldn't worry about it when taking family photos.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

rpavich wrote:

I try to because in my experience, things on the "3rds" points just "look better" to me.

So yes...I do when I can...a group shot (in my opinion) is an exception EXCEPT to put something meaningful on the "lower" or "upper" 3rd line....OR arrange them so that key people are at the 3rds intersections....you can do a lot with this without being obvious.

Here is just one good example that works for me.

This pic would have worked just as well if the left and right side would have been cropped tighter.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

boberic wrote:

This pic would have worked just as well if the left and right side would have been cropped tighter.

In my opinion, I'd have spread the two groups a bit wider myself, but this was just an illustration...that's all..not even my pic.

CO

Outdoor Photography Canada magazine had an excellent article called "Beyond Basic Composition" that is online. They show how composing using the golden spiral rather than the rule of thirds can make for a more dynamic photo. Check out the lighthouse photos at this link.
http://www.oopoomoo.com/tag/composition/

The rule of thirds can also be applied to landscape photos. It's usually best to have the horizon either 1/3 of the way from the bottom or 1/3 of the way from the top of the photo.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

boberic wrote:

This pic would have worked just as well if the left and right side would have been cropped tighter.

IMO: Well if we look at the balance of space/weight/color the width is necessary to prevent the too tall look. Kudos Rpavich.

This photo is an excellent example for composition, also for psyc books showing the illusion of height vs distance.

Perhaps the rule of thirds is better called the something more flexible than rule... guidance of thirds?

At times, composition must give way to practicality of documentation. Big family group... line them up and shoot with a canon!! :lol:

There is more to the world than just the "rule of thirds" the following reference is well worth the read. I printed the sections of this free research and read in spare moments.
http://users.rider.edu/~suler/photopsy/article_index.htm