2. Pull back from your subject: “If your subject is going to be a really small part of the image,” photographer Derek Boyd suggests, “sometimes the best way to highlight them is to break the rule of thirds and put them almost dead centre in the image.”
Breaking the rule of thirds.
Fill the frame: “Filling the frame is really interesting — when there are parts of an image that aren't necessarily fully in the frame, or when there's a subject that's very much in the foreground of the frame,” art director and photographer Alex Tan says.
Like all the best rules, the 'Rule of Thirds' is there to be broken. While it can help with image composition there are times when breaking it results in a better image. The important thing here is to break it rather than ignore it.
“The rule of thirds is unfortunately misleading because it prioritizes specific thirds placements rather than how the foreground and background interact with each other.”
As with all rules (at least in photography), the rule of thirds doesn't apply in every situation, and sometimes breaking it can result in a much more eye-catching, interesting photo. Experiment and test out different compositions even if they go against any "rules" you've learned.
The rule of thirds is important because it creates a good balance between the elements in the frame. It helps you decide how much background and foreground are necessary for a visually appealing photograph. It also helps you manage the empty space, especially when your scene has plenty of it.
Usually, we would place the subject in the right third. Based on how people read in many cultures, the eye moves more naturally from left to right, so the viewer will feel more secure entering the background or space on the left and moving naturally to the subject on the right.
The rule of thirds recommends that you place your subject at the top, bottom, left, or right area to make a good composition. Essentially, you should place your subjects so that the middle area of the grid stays empty. The middle area, or the middle box, is not the best place for your subject.
You can break the rule of thirds in different ways. For example, by placing your subject dead center in the image. You can also fill the frame with your subject apart from any intersecting lines. You can also try a different composition guideline which might work better for that particular case.
“When you're chasing a big goal, you're supposed to feel good a third of the time, okay a third of the time, and crappy a third of the time...and if the ratio is roughly in that range, then you're doing fine.”
Some landscape photographers argue that the phi grid (and the associated golden ratio rule) is a better guide for composition than the rule of thirds. The phi grid, they say, makes photos look a bit more interesting and more natural.
Rule of Thirds Example: Landscapes
If the focus of your image is on land (i.e. mountains, buildings), the horizon should fall near the upper third and if the focus is the sky (i.e. sunsets, sunrises), the horizon should fall near the lower third.
The rule of thirds is a composition guideline that places your subject in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more open. While there are other forms of composition, the rule of thirds generally leads to compelling and well-composed shots.
The golden ratio is a guide to where to place a subject (a tree, person, building, etc.) or element in a photo (like the horizon) where it will be most pleasing to the eye. That divine ratio is 1.618:1. The first recorded definition of the golden ratio came from Euclid in the 3rd Century BC.
Ian Dobson, her coach and former Olympian himself, explained that her workout was not a problem because it was aligned with the Rule of Thirds: when you are dreaming and chasing for a big goal or something particularly hard, he continued, you are supposed to feel good a third of the time, feel OK a third of the time, ...
An important guideline for portraits using the rule of thirds is to consider the direction of the eyes. When composing a picture, position the subject in the center of the right or left vertical line, opposite of where they are looking. This guideline also applies to subjects who are moving in either direction.
The Rule of 3 is a productivity principle that encourages us to focus on achieving just three meaningful outcomes every day, week, month, and year. It's one of the simplest but most effective productivity rituals you will ever come across.
The Rule of Thirds says that when you're chasing a dream or doing anything hard, you generally feel: Good 1/3rd of the time. Okay 1/3rd of the time. Crappy 1/3rd of the time.
The human eye gravitates toward points right beyond the center of a photo. These points are called the intersecting points on a Rule of Thirds grid. As people read text from left to right, they also read images in the same direction. As a result, the bottom right portion of an image is the most visually arresting.
The Rule of Three (also Three-fold Law or Law of Return) is a religious tenet held by some Wiccans, Neo-Pagans and occultists. It states that whatever energy a person puts out into the world, be it positive or negative, will be returned to that person three times.
The Golden Mean is a mathematical spiral that places your focal point on a curved line in order to draw the viewer into the photo. The rule of thirds is a grid where the focal points and most interesting places are on the lines that is dividing the frame into thirds.
If you place the elements of your photo two thirds to the right or left it again generally becomes more pleasing to the eye. If shooting vertically, try placing your horizon two thirds of the way up or down. The Rule of Thirds is very simple but can become quite complex in its implementation... Don't over think it.