frangeo Loc: Texas

I see the shot in my head. View in the finder to confirm and push the button. Once I get the money shot I start to push the envelope. I've surprised myself many times. The more I shoot the more I see. Watch your subjects reactions in that environment to give you additional ideas.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

Depends, I do work with thirds when I start. Usually trying to see how the shot works with the subject hitting one of the thirds spots, sometime it is more about how things frame a shot, sometimes it is about how the lines, like pathways and roads, run and how the photo flows.

HardwareGuy

I'm a big fan of "leading lines". I enjoy seeing perspectives, foreground, background.

b top gun

About the only "rules" I adhere to: make certain the horizon line is level and try not to split the image in half with the horizon line. Otherwise, whatever the scene offers and how it "feels". Rule of thirds....sometimes. Other rules...HO HUM!

JZA B1

Yeah, that's my feeling too. I think the importance of the rules is not in being rules but in reminding us of the best practices at our disposal

Canisdirus

I try to sneak up from behind it.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

After 14 pages, it seems the UHH community has an issue with rules. A casual glace at the Photo Gallery seems to confirm.

srt101fan

If you haven't had enough of this topic, go check out an earlier thread:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-699637-1.html

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

The Photo Gallery rarely rates more than a casual glance, if even that.

milescherkasky Loc: East Coast USA

I use those and more. Golden ratio, rule of odds, foreground midground, background leading lines etc. All depends on how you see the photo. Can't tell you how I choose, one pops out and seems right. I will move around for different angles and the type of composition can change or not.

Leinik Loc: Rochester NY

After decades of practice I have come to several conclusions and a few tools:
1-SELF-DISCIPLINE: I have set the principle for myself never to crop my own images (I have had to do that very very few times for professional reasons (product photography). Even in this situation (professional), as a long time photojournalist, I have insisted for my photographs never to be cropped as cropping them would eliminate innate context/meaning. It was hard and not always respected in the beginning and became a rule once I had established myself as a competent photographer.
One of the reasons for that is conveying, as much as possible, the original experience of the moment when the subject was photographed and what motivated the photograph. Another is self-discipline: forcing myself to slow down and be deliberate (same with film as with digital cameras and I do not need to go bak to film to do that!!!). I do think self-discipline has helped my practice. I also tend to use prime lenses and "zoom with my feet" (unless unrealistic) which gives me even more time to think about what I am doing, to get more deeply connected to my intuition, question it and understand what motivates it (as well as finely tune up my composition to match my (pre)visualisation of the resulting image more accurately). For some time I have also used one single focal length. My lens of choice is 35 mm for 35 mm film or full-frame sensor = more or less the length of the image on film or sensor (63° angle). Lately I have used 28 mm more and sometimes 50 mm, just to challenge and educate myself.
2-FRAME (image ratio): I have experienced the fact that image ratios change the rendition and the perception of a subject, a photograph. So I have used various formats (2x3, 1x1, 4x5, 4x3, various panoramic format (more or less 1x3)) in order to teach myself which format would be best for a particular subject. There are no rules, just experience, intuition, desired message/photograph. Fortunately some mirrorless cameras allow the user to change formats and visualize them in the view-finder (EVF) or on the back-screen.
3-COMPOSITION: crucial in terms of communication, composition orders chaos for the viewers and helps them understand or feel what your point is. Meaning and aesthetics are the result of good compositions. A good composition draws the viewers attention where it should go, helps generate the right experience, feeling, message and communicate them.
The simplest one is using the center while paying attention to the background (the background should help the subject and not fight with it, distract away from it).
Then the so-called "rule of thirds" that I would more legitimately call "the compositional aids making use of centuries if not millennia of visual arts" including architecture, of reflections on effective compositions. It is derived from the observation of the golden ration or golden mean (also called divine proportions) in nature, in the human body, and of our reaction, as human beings to it. It helps the composition of images, it makes it more complex, involving more than one subject, subtler. It not only defines 4 strong points (the intersections of the vertical and horizontal lines of thirds) that can interact including on the diagonals of the frame (yes to the "rule of third" one should add other visual/compositional aids such as diagonals and medians, with a touch of Gestalt theory) but also 9 identical rectangles (of the same proportions as the original frame) in which the same compositional tools can be applied.
So composition can become a very complex exercise. In fact it is just a tool: more and more practice allows one to hone one's tools and craft, and become more and more intuitive with less and less tactical filters. After a while composition just imposes itself upon the world. ;O) Have a good practice!

Leinik Loc: Rochester NY

There are some images that makes having the horizon line right in the middle of the image almost mandatory. I do not think there is a specific rule regarding where the horizon line should be except where it works for the photograph, even in the middle (which means the photographer is looking straight, the axis of the camera is horizontal. If your horizon line is anywhere away from the center of your images it just means you are looking up or down). The way you look (up, down, or horizontally) also conveys information/ meaning. Now to give a famous example of successful slanted horizons: look at Garry Winogrand's photography. Some may not like it, but should not ignore that many did, do... including John Szarkowski the director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1962-1991).

Leinik Loc: Rochester NY

Yes, it is not that your brain "knows" but rather that you have trained your brain to memorise through intense (and not always successful training) ;o) It is a good metaphor though, thanks.

Leinik Loc: Rochester NY

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Leinik Loc: Rochester NY

Why not crop directly while shooting?? I think it is one of the differences between a photographer and a graphic designer. Both are interesting activities but very different in their experiences, goals and practice.