Rule%of%Thirds - Dublin Unified School District · 2017-08-08 · The Horizontal Rule of Thirds...
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Rule of Thirds Rule of thirds is a composition guideline that is quite often used to help photographers arrange their subjects in their photographs. I should remind you that this is not really a "rule" that you have to follow all of the time but rather a guideline to use for some compositions. What is the Rule of Thirds? Imagine when you look through the viewfinder of your camera there are four lines; two horizontal lines and two vertical lines. Some digital cameras actually have the lines so you can see them, others don't have them so you have to imagine them. My camera doesn't have the lines so I have to imagine them. If my camera did have them, it would look something like this picture. The Horizontal Rule of Thirds Using the same technique of dividing your viewfinder into lines, the horizontal rule of thirds says that you should use the horizontal lines, (think horizon line) to divide your picture into thirds. Let's say you are going to take a picture of an awesome sunset where the sky is bright red and orange. Since the sky is the most important part of the picture, why not put more of it in your composition? To do that, you would move the horizon line (where the sky and earth meet) onto the bottom horizontal line. Rather than placing your horizon line right in the middle of the picture, which so many photographers choose to do, decide when you are taking the picture if it's the sky or earth that is more interesting and then use 2/3 of your picture to emphasize either the sky or earth. In other words, if the sky and clouds are an uninteresting part of your photo then move the horizon line to the top third and show more of the earth. You will be amazed how much difference it will make and how much better your pictures will be if you follow this simple rule. The Vertical Rule of Thirds In the picture to the left, do you notice how the main subject, which is the red building, is placed where the first two lines meet? Placing the building in that spot rather than right in the middle of the picture, makes for a more
Transcript of Rule%of%Thirds - Dublin Unified School District · 2017-08-08 · The Horizontal Rule of Thirds...
Rule of Thirds Rule of thirds is a composition guideline that is quite often used to help photographers arrange their
subjects in their photographs. I should remind you that this is not really a "rule" that you have to follow all of the time but rather a guideline to use for some compositions.
What is the Rule of Thirds? Imagine when you look through the viewfinder of your camera there are four lines; two horizontal lines and two vertical lines. Some digital cameras actually have the lines so you can see them, others don't have them so you have to imagine them. My camera doesn't have the lines so I have to imagine them. If my camera did have them, it would look something like this picture.
The Horizontal Rule of Thirds Using the same technique of dividing your viewfinder into lines, the horizontal rule of thirds says that you should use the horizontal lines, (think horizon line) to divide your picture into thirds. Let's say you are going to take a picture of an awesome sunset where the sky is bright red and orange. Since the sky is the most important part of the picture, why not put more of it in your composition? To do that, you would move the horizon line (where the sky and earth meet) onto the bottom horizontal line. Rather than placing your horizon line right in the middle of the picture, which so many photographers choose to do, decide when you are taking the picture if it's the sky or earth that is more interesting and then use 2/3 of your picture to emphasize either the sky or earth. In other words, if the sky and clouds are an uninteresting part of your photo then move the horizon line to the top third and show more of the earth. You will be amazed how much difference it will make and how much better your pictures will be if you follow this simple rule. The Vertical Rule of Thirds In the picture to the left, do you notice how the main subject, which is the red building, is placed where the first two lines meet? Placing the building in that spot rather than right in the middle of the picture, makes for a more
interesting picture because the photographer wanted to show more of the frozen ground and less sky. Where he chose to place the subject was an important part of the composition or how the picture "feels" to the viewer. The vertical rule of thirds simply means you should place your subject in one of the vertical (up and down) lines. Think about taking a picture of someone running. Rather than putting them right in the middle, putting them on one of the vertical lines will give them room to run in the picture, which will lead the viewers eye to the space in front of the subject.
Image #1
1. Bee is located directly on the right 1/3. 2. “White Space” or “Negative Space” is on the left 1/3 3. Bee’s eye is on a power point
Image #2
1. Rock Climber is on the right 1/3 2. “White Space” or “Negative Space” is on the left 1/3 3. Rock Climber is on a power point.
Image #3
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